The Chinese plum yew is native to northern Myanmar (Burma) and China and was introduced to Britain by the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune in 1848 after one of his many trips around Asia and was named after him (Cephalotaxus fortunei).
Even today this handsome evergreen is something of a rarity in western gardens. While strictly speaking a tree, it usually develops a multi-stemmed form with an open and loosely rounded crown, rarely growing above 6m (20ft) tall in cultivation, although it can grow as high as 20m (65ft) in its natural habitat.
The foliage of the Chinese plum yew is quite distinctive. Its needles are arranged horizontally either side of the leaf shoot and can grow as long as 6 inches. The needles have a sharp tip and are a glossy green colour with two wide grey or white bands on the underside.
The olive-like fruits initially emerge on the tree a bright blue colour and over the course of two years ripen through green to a deep purple brown, they appear in bunches of four or five. If fruits are desired, female plants with at least one male pollinator are required for fruit production to occur.
It does best grown in moist, sandy, well-drained soils in shady areas and tolerates shady conditions better than most needled evergreens. Prefers to grow in part shade conditions in areas with hot summers. Established plants have good heat and a degree of drought tolerance. It is moderately cold hardy, here in central France it has survived winter temperatures of -20 Celsius in sheltered locations. Plum yew's excellent tolerance for both shade and hot weather make this species an interesting substitute for traditional yew (taxus) in hotter areas such as the southeastern U.S.A.
Even today this handsome evergreen is something of a rarity in western gardens. While strictly speaking a tree, it usually develops a multi-stemmed form with an open and loosely rounded crown, rarely growing above 6m (20ft) tall in cultivation, although it can grow as high as 20m (65ft) in its natural habitat.
The foliage of the Chinese plum yew is quite distinctive. Its needles are arranged horizontally either side of the leaf shoot and can grow as long as 6 inches. The needles have a sharp tip and are a glossy green colour with two wide grey or white bands on the underside.
The olive-like fruits initially emerge on the tree a bright blue colour and over the course of two years ripen through green to a deep purple brown, they appear in bunches of four or five. If fruits are desired, female plants with at least one male pollinator are required for fruit production to occur.
It does best grown in moist, sandy, well-drained soils in shady areas and tolerates shady conditions better than most needled evergreens. Prefers to grow in part shade conditions in areas with hot summers. Established plants have good heat and a degree of drought tolerance. It is moderately cold hardy, here in central France it has survived winter temperatures of -20 Celsius in sheltered locations. Plum yew's excellent tolerance for both shade and hot weather make this species an interesting substitute for traditional yew (taxus) in hotter areas such as the southeastern U.S.A.
Germination, Sowing and After Care Information for
Chinese Plum Yew (cephalotaxus fortunei)
Plum Yew seeds have a deep dormancy within them, this requires a degree of patience to overcome. Simply sowing seeds without performing the stratification period will result in low numbers of seedlings.
First prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die. Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that their is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pretreatment was started.
The seeds first require a period of warm pretreatment and need to be kept in temperatures of 20 Celsius (68F) for a period of at least 16 weeks . During this time make sure that the pretreatment medium does not dry out at any stage or it will be ineffective!
Next the seeds require a cold period to break the final part of the dormancy, this is easily achieved by placing the bag in the fridge at (4 Celsius or 39F) for 12 weeks. It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up.
When the period of pre treatment has finished the seed should be ready to be planted. Small quantities can be sown in pots or seed trays filled with a good quality compost and cover them with a thin layer of compost no more than 1cm deep. For larger quantities it is easiest to sow the seeds in a well prepared seedbed outdoors once the warm and cold pretreatments have finished and wait for the seedlings to appear.
Seeds that have not germinated can have the whole warm and cold process repeated again and should result in higher levels of germination. Fresh seedlings can keep germinating for several years after the original sowing date.
Do not expose newly sown seeds to high temperatures (above 25 Celsius). Keep the seedlings well watered and weed free. Growth in the first year is usually between 5 and 15cm depending on the time of germination and cultural techniques and developing seedlings are usually trouble free. Allow them to grow for at least 2 or 3 years before planting them in a permanent position.
First prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die. Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that their is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pretreatment was started.
The seeds first require a period of warm pretreatment and need to be kept in temperatures of 20 Celsius (68F) for a period of at least 16 weeks . During this time make sure that the pretreatment medium does not dry out at any stage or it will be ineffective!
Next the seeds require a cold period to break the final part of the dormancy, this is easily achieved by placing the bag in the fridge at (4 Celsius or 39F) for 12 weeks. It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up.
When the period of pre treatment has finished the seed should be ready to be planted. Small quantities can be sown in pots or seed trays filled with a good quality compost and cover them with a thin layer of compost no more than 1cm deep. For larger quantities it is easiest to sow the seeds in a well prepared seedbed outdoors once the warm and cold pretreatments have finished and wait for the seedlings to appear.
Seeds that have not germinated can have the whole warm and cold process repeated again and should result in higher levels of germination. Fresh seedlings can keep germinating for several years after the original sowing date.
Do not expose newly sown seeds to high temperatures (above 25 Celsius). Keep the seedlings well watered and weed free. Growth in the first year is usually between 5 and 15cm depending on the time of germination and cultural techniques and developing seedlings are usually trouble free. Allow them to grow for at least 2 or 3 years before planting them in a permanent position.
