Impact of cutting and soil on vegetative propagation of Yew (Taxus baccata L.)

Yew is one of 4 conifer species which is distributed and endangered in the northern forest of Iran. In order to study the effect of cutting and bed soil in nursery on success of vegetative propagation of Yew, two different kinds of cuttings (one and two years twigs) and four different soils (loam, sand, sandy loam and mixed soil) were used. A total of 540 cuttings, containing 15 cuttings in each treatment were studied. Results showed that there was a significant difference between treatments at level of 5%. The highest rate of rooted cuttings (82.2%) was observed within one year old woody cuttings in pure sand bed, while the lowest rate (13.3%) was observed within older cutting in loam bed.