Taxus baccata (Persian: Sorkhdar, English: yew, German: Eibe) is an important evergreen species in Iran’s north humid forests (Hyrcanian forests) and is in Red Data Book of Iran, so is protected as an endangered tree species.
In north of Iran, T. baccata is found in a wide range of altitude, but mostly between 900 – 1400 m, in grouped form, and from 50 to 2600 m individually. Due to its valuable wood quality (particularly color and strength) has been wiped greatly form many parts of its native stands especially in flat areas and vicinity of cities, thus its habitat has been limited to some mountainous and highland areas. There are several noteworthy T. baccata stands in Hyrcanian forests like Afra Takhte with an area of about 350 ha, Which contains some specimen with the height of 30 m and diameter of 2 m (and some specimens with the age of about hundreds of years). All T. baccata stands in Iran are protected as a reserve and any kind of cutting, grazing and traffic are prohibited inside the area.
