Paclitaxel is derived from the cambium of the yew—a short, shrubby tree that grows under old cedars and maples and firs. The Aboriginal people knew its potency, making infusions and poultices to treat illness, rubbing its needles on their skin for strength, bathing in preparations to cleanse their bodies. They used this tree to make bowls and combs and snowshoes, and to craft hooks and spears and arrows. When the anticancer qualities of the yew were brought to the attention of the modern pharmaceutical industry, there was a bounty on the trees. I’d find the small yews—their branches as long as
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