Taxus wallichiana Zucc (Himalayan yew) is a medicinal plant found in which of the following states?

Correct — B. Taxus wallichiana, the Himalayan yew, is a conifer of the temperate Himalaya, and Himachal Pradesh is the only Himalayan state in the list.

The common name in the stem does the work before you reach the options. The plant matters because its bark and needles yield taxol (paclitaxel), an anti-cancer drug.

The other three are a plateau state, a plain state and a coastal one, none with the altitude or the temperate climate this tree needs — option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Jharkhand — Jharkhand lies on the Chotanagpur plateau under dry deciduous sal forest. A temperate Himalayan conifer does not grow there.
• (c)
  Bihar — Bihar is Gangetic alluvial plain, largely cultivated and far below the altitude a temperate conifer requires.
• (d)
  Goa — Goa is coastal and tropical, on the Western Ghats belt. Its medicinal flora is a different set of species entirely.

Taxus wallichiana Zucc. is a slow-growing evergreen conifer of the temperate Himalayan belt, occurring along the Himalaya from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand eastwards through Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

It is India's source of taxol, extracted from bark and leaves and used against cancer.

Extraction damages or destroys the tree and the species regenerates slowly, so heavy collection has left it threatened and legally protected.

Key facts

• Taxus wallichiana is the Himalayan yew, a temperate Himalayan conifer.
• It yields taxol (paclitaxel), used as an anti-cancer drug.
• Its Indian range runs along the Himalaya and includes Himachal Pradesh.
• Over-collection for taxol has left the species threatened and legally protected.

Common traps

• Answering on medicinal plant alone — the deciding word in the stem is Himalayan.
• Treating any heavily forested state as a candidate, when the climate and not the forest cover decides.

No directly related past PYQ was found.