Chemistry of Chinese yew, Taxus chinensis var. mairei

Taxus chinensis var. mairei (Lemée et Lévl) Cheng et L.K. Fu is an evergreen tall tree ubiquitous to the southeastern region in China. The first chemical study on this species was published in 1987. Since then about 163 compounds including taxoids and non-taxane compounds were isolated from seeds, root, bark and leaves of this species. This review summarized the chemical investigation on T. chinensis var. mairei (Lemée et Lévl) Cheng et L.K. Fu in the past 20 years. T. chinensis var. mairei (Lemée et Lévl) Cheng et L.K. Fu was assigned as a variation of T. chinensis (Pilger) Rehd. in Flora of China. However, present chemotaxonomic data would suggest that these two plants might belong to two different chemotypes; further genetic investigation and comprehensive chemical studies on them are warranted to address this issue.