Yew tree help

jame5 · #1 (**permalink**) 15-06-2009, 11:02 PM

Hi, I am very much interested in the yew tree but am having trouble finding one. I must have been to 5 churchyards to locate one and have not been able to. What I would like some help with is the red berries which make the tree much more distinctive. I am sure i have found a yew but there are no red berries. Is it a season thing? The leaves on the trees that i have found are the same in books that i have read, but the tree has no berries. Any help on me finding one would be appreciated

Thanks

James

ron1863 · #2 (**permalink**) 15-06-2009, 11:08 PM

Try old woodland. We hae lots of Yew trees up where I stay and many are in old graveyards but you can also find them in old woodland. The picture below was taken in August so you will be able to ID them with the berries on soon.

Welcome to WAB

Jim Ford · #3 (**permalink**) 15-06-2009, 11:20 PM

It would help if we knew what region you lived in!

Jim

tcvarlh · #4 (**permalink**) 15-06-2009, 11:46 PM

Just let me remind you that the whole plant except for the arils is very poisonous. The major toxin is the alkaloid taxane Poison symptoms include staggering gait, muscle tremors, convulsions, collapse, difficulty breathing, and eventually heart failure. However, death occurs so rapidly that many times the symptoms are missed
Be careful with the tree.

Dutchess · #5 (**permalink**) 16-06-2009, 12:34 AM

Agree with the last two posts, James. As Jim says, it would be helpful to know whereabouts in the country you are. And the tree is quite poisonous as pointed out by Harry.

Why the berries in particular are you interested in, may I ask? Curiosity killed the cat, but so can Yew berries, so I am rather curious here!

Perhaps you are looking for berries in order to ID.

Once you have "met" the grand Yew up close and personal, you will not mistake the wood. If you are simply a fan of the tree (as I am) you may be interested in : The Ancient Yew: A History of Taxus Baccata by Robert Bevan-Jones.

Welcome to WAB, by the way

D.

Jim Ford · #6 (**permalink**) 16-06-2009, 10:22 AM

Yews can grow very old. The problem with ageing them is that the middle often rots out, leaving a ring of seperate growths that can't be aged by taking cores.

There was a television programme some years ago about very old trees. IIRC the presenter had evidence that the Magna Carta had been signed near a yew tree, and found the remains of the tree still growing.

Jim

Pete Collins · #7 (**permalink**) 16-06-2009, 10:42 AM

Welcome to WAB!

As others have said, it would help if you told us whereabouts you lived. I can give you several locations for yew trees in the Chilterns, if that's of any use to you.

cutecoot · #8 (**permalink**) 16-06-2009, 10:45 AM

I'm surprised you didn't find yews in those churchyards, James .. I think every one I've been to, without fail, has at least one!

Here are a couple of pix of some ancient yews in Surrey/Sussex .. not sure if you are near that area, but worth checking out if you are

:

Tandridge Yew: (this tree is enormous, which doesn't quite translate in the photo!)

Crowhurst Church:

I think I remember they are reputed to be somewhere around 4,000 years old?

jame5 · #9 (**permalink**) 16-06-2009, 02:48 PM

Many thanks for the replies, i live in leicestershire which has alot of woodland. I will try local woodland but churchyards were the obvious first point of call. Like i said earlier ive found trees that match the yew tree but cant be 100 precent because i have not seen the red berries. I am aware its very toxic but am just interested in the tree itself.

Thanks

James