Taxus Species, Common Yew, English Yew, European Yew

I have never seen the straight species. The mother species from Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa is a pyramidal tree 15 to 85 f...Read Moreeet high. Cuttings have been taken from it to produce many cultivars; many of which are shrubs or bushes. I have seen a few bushy cultivars grown in the Mid-Atlantic USA, as 'Repandens' that are cold hardy to USDA Zone 6a, though they might sneak by in Zone 5b or in Zone 5a with lots of protection. Cultivars of this species have been crossed with the Japanese species to produce many cultivars that are cold hardier to USDA Zone 4, and that have the prettier, fuller foliage of the English species.

Very slow growing evergreen with tough, highly flexible wood - it used to be the wood of choice for making bows in medieval times.
...Read More Prefers full sun on alkaline soils, does very well on dry slopes on chalk downs where other trees find it hard to grow.
One of the longest living trees, sometimes living to over 1000 years.

I understand that the fruit is the only part of this plant that is not poisonous, that´s why, I guess, God made it attractive (red), "su...Read Morebstantious" (is that a word in English?) (fleshy) and, of course, edible. Some might say: “Nature is so wise!” but I know and I believe that Nature and God are the same person only with different names.

A coniferous tree from Europe, Northern Africa and Asia Minor regions.

Has linear, glossy, dark green leaves. Bears red ar...Read Moreils containing one seed each on female trees, male trees bear yellow catkins. The bark is reddish brown and slightly peeling.

Loves well drained, humus rich, fertile soil in sun or shade.

Extremely poisonous to livestock (and humans) it shouldn't be used as a hedging plant for field boundaries. It does make a good, dense, shelter hedge in larger gardens and tolerates clipping and topiary.

The wood has a good degree of elasticity and was once used in Great Britain to make long bows as well as furniture. In some older parishes you can still see a couple of Yew trees close to the village church that were probably used as such or at least their ancestors were. Some people also say that Yew trees were used to mark the Anglo-Saxon village boundaries but there is little evidence for that. The Yew has a very long life and some specimens are considered to be close on 2,000 years old.

The aril (fleshy part of the berry) is eaten by birds who distribute the seed.