Latin name: Taxus canadensis Marsh.
Botanical family: Taxaceae
Growth habit: Shrub
Vernacular name(s): Canada yew, ground hemlock (Eng.)
if du Canada, buis de sapin (Fr.)
ne'bagandag' (Ojibwa)
adskewacit (Atikamekw)
al'nézité, sagaskôdagw (Abénaki)
karkatiwahuk (Innu)
tshîtshue ashtshîuâshîshku (Montagnais)
Uses:
Medicinal [Innu: 72]. Used with Lycopodium clavatum as a brew for weakness and fever [Algonquians: 63]. Boiled and added to whiskey for bowels and internal troubles. Boiled and given with fresh milk to the mother after childbirth [Mi'kmaq: 43]. Used in toothache [Ojibwa: 89]. or by women experiencing complications after childbirth [Algonquin: 69].
Leaves :Tea used to treat rheumatism, sometimes combined with Prunus pensylvanica [Abenaki 67; Algonquin 69]. Tea used in fever [Mi'kmaq 62].
Twigs :Steeped to make a tea taken as an antiscorbutic or antipyretic [Mi'kmaq 60]. , also used for colds [Algonquians 63]. Boiled with Juniperus virginiana twigs and taken internally to treat rheumatism [Ojibwa 47]. Brewed in a tea, alone or mixed with Fraxinus pennsylvanica, used for stomachache or menstrual disorders [Atikamekw 73]. Boiled in water, mixed with grease and rolled in a towel to be applied locally to ease headache or eye problems [Montagnais 71].