The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Yew \Yew\, n. [OE. ew, AS. e['o]w, [imac]w, eoh; akin to D. ijf,
   OHG. [imac]wa, [imac]ha, G. eibe, Icel. [=y]r; cf. Ir.
   iubhar, Gael. iubhar, iughar, W. yw, ywen, Lith. j["e]va the
   black alder tree.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. (Bot.) An evergreen tree (Taxus baccata) of Europe,
      allied to the pines, but having a peculiar berrylike fruit
      instead of a cone. It frequently grows in British
      churchyards.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The wood of the yew. It is light red in color, compact,
      fine-grained, and very elastic. It is preferred to all
      other kinds of wood for bows and whipstocks, the best for
      these purposes coming from Spain.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The American yew (Taxus baccata, var. Canadensis)
         is a low and straggling or prostrate bush, never
         forming an erect trunk. The California yew (Taxus
         brevifolia, also called Pacific yew) is a good-sized
         tree, and its wood is used for bows, spear handles,
         paddles, and other similar implements; the anticancer
         agent taxol is obtained from its bark. Another yew is
         found in Florida, and there are species in Japan and
         the Himalayas.
         [1913 Webster + PJC]

   3. A bow for shooting, made of the yew.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

California yew
    n 1: small or medium irregularly branched tree of the Pacific
         coast of North America; yields fine hard close-grained wood
         [syn: Pacific yew, California yew, western yew,
         Taxus brevifolia]