further north. It is distinguished from young trees of the typical variety (var. brevifolia) by its stems initially creeping along the ground for a short distance before ascending (curving) upwards and by the branches growing off to one side of the stem, usually the upper side. The epithet reptaneta is from the Latin reptans which means "creeping, prostrate, and rooting," which is exactly what this variety does; in rooting it forms yew thickets; hence, the epithet reptaneta (etum means collective place of growth) and hence the common name, thicket yew. Unlike the typical variety, thicket yew grows in abundance on open sunny avalanche shoots or ravines as well as in the forest understory. It also occurs along forest margins. In northwestern Montana, a variant of the thicket yew does not ascend upwards; rather, it remains along the ground. This is probably the ancestral form; the upright form with branches along the upper side would be the expected growth pattern that might evolve from one with stems that strictly creep along the ground since branches can only arise from the upper surface. Taxus brevifolia var. reptaneta has been arbitrarily indicated synonymous with typical yew, T. brevifolia (var. brevifolia); there are no studies to support this view. Even though the two varieties may be genetically distinct, some botanists recognize species or varieties only if they have different geographical ranges. For example, T. mairei var. speciosa, which occurs with the typical variety in southern China in 10 of 13 provinces, was rejected for the lack of a "geographic reason" for recognizing it even though it appears genetically distinct. Taxus brevifolia var. reptaneta has also been proposed to be elevated to subspecies status without justification or explanation. Such a change would likely cause considerable confusion in view of the subspecies rank having already been used in the genus Taxus for defining geographically separated subspecies of a single species (T. baccata). Further, one recommendation strongly discourages taxonomists from "elevating a 'variety' to a 'subspecies' unless there is sufficient scientific evidence to warrant such an elevation," and that "it is crucial to provide continuity." Taxus brevifolia var. polychaeta. Typical Taxus brevifolia, like most species in the genus, usually produces a single ovule on a complex scaly shoot, composed of a primary shoot and a secondary short shoot. To the casual observer they appear as one funnelform shoot with an ovule at the apex. However, Taxus brevifolia