Taxus baccata (Yew)

LOCATION: BOGGART HOLE CLOUGH, MANCHESTER

BACCATA IS A LATIN FOR 'BEARING RED BERRIES'. THE WORD 'YEW', AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY USED, SEEMS TO REFER TO THE COLOUR BROWN AND THE LATIN WORD 'TAXUS' COMES FROM THE SAME ROOT AS 'TOXIC' WHICH REFERS TO THE VERY POISONOUS FRUITS.

YEW IS A CONIFEROUS, SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE EVERGREEN TREE, REACHING UP TO 20m AND CAN LIVE BETWEEN 400-600 YEARS. THE SPECIMEN I FOUND IS UNUSUALLY SHAPED, PROBABLY CAUSED BY ITS YOUNG AGE, AND DOES NOT HAVE THE RED FRUITS WHICH MAY SUGGEST IT'S A MALE. THE LEAVES WERE QUITE FLAT AND SOFT, NEEDLE-LIKE. THEY REACHED UP TO 4cm LONG AND AROUND 3mm WIDE. THIS PARTICULAR YEW WAS GROWING I QUITE WILD PARK, WHICH PROTECTED THE SPECIES FROM HUMAN INTERFERENCE. ALL OF ITS TREE ROOTS WERE UNDERGROUND AND THE GROUND UNDERNEATH WAS OVERGROWN BY GRASS AND LARGE QUANTITIES OF MOSS. THE TRADITIONAL SHAPE OF THE TREE IS SLIGHTLY MORE DENSE AND THE BRANCHES ARE MUCH CLOSER TO EACH OTHER.

 

YEW IS A NATIVE OF MUCH OF THE EUROPE, INCLUDING BRITAIN, AS WELL AS SOME PARTS OF AFRICA AND ASIA. IT PREFERS DRIER LIME-RICH SOILS, THEREFORE THE SPECIES I HAVE FOUND MUST SUGGEST THAT IT WAS PLANTED BY HUMANS AS THE MAJOR AREA OF THE PARK IS MAINLY A WETLAND AND THE SOIL IS QUITE MOIST. THE FRUITS, WHAT IS OFTEN MISTAKENLY UNDERSTOOD, ARE NOT IN FACT TOXIC, HOWEVER MOST OF THE PARTS OF THE TREE ARE. THE ONLY NOT TOXIC PART IS THE BRIGHT RED ARIL SURROUNDING THE SEED. ALSO, THE TOXICITY OF THE LEAVES ADDITIONALLY INCREASES WHEN THEY ARE DRIED AND THEY ARE MORE TOXIC THAN THE SEEDS.