ONLY YEW

The Yew is the most ancient of trees, with the some thought to be thousands of years old. The needles are arranged either side of the twig and are flat. Pollination is by wind dispersal and seeds are dispersed mainly by birds.

Yew timber is heavy but very elastic and was traditionally used for longbows and spears. Other uses include fence posts, domestic utensils and bowls, furniture, dagger handles, cogs and wheels and parquete flooring.

Yew trees are associated with churchyard. They were said to be planted over the graves of plague victims to protect and purify the dead. Today the leaves of the Yew are now used to produce a drug which inhibits cancer cell growth permanently, called Taxol, nice one !

The oldest tree in Europe is the Fortingall Yew of Fortingall, Scotland, near Loch Tay. It is 3,000 years old and presently lives surrounded by a cast iron fence in a churchyard.

Happy Christmas to Yew !