Researches on the Morphological Characteristics of Branches and Leaves Between Male and Female Taxus media

Taxus media(TM),a plant of dioecism,had very high medicinal and ornamental value for the beautiful figure and the high contents of paclitaxel in all its parts.The research was conducted on analyzing the morphological characteristics of branches and leaves among one male and two female plants of TM in Hongya,Sichuan province.The results showed that:①The morphological characteristics of branches could be used as the important appraisal standard to distinguish male and female plants.Branchlets of both two female plants were nearly verticillate.The internodal length of the No.1 was about 25 cm and the number of branches was 4~5 per node.The internodal length of No.2 was only 7 cm~8 cm and the number of branches was 7~8 per node.Branches of the male are distributed on the same plane.The internodal length was only 3 cm to 5 cm and the number of branches was 2 or 3 per node.②As compared with the two female plants,the male leaf of TM was much narrower,while leaf length,leaf area and leaf index of the male plants were larger.③The fresh weight,dry weight and specific weight per leaf of the No.2 female plant were lower than those of the No.1 female plant and the No.1 male.In conclusion,there were three different types of male and female TM in Hongya,Sichuan province,after nearly 20 years of introduction and domestication,while significant differences of morphological characteristics were found.The morphological characteristics could be used to identify the male and female plants of TM,which could have great practical value in production practice.