Yew  (Taxus baccata)    NATIVE

Medium sized evergreen tree with characteristic red fleshy berries (called arils).
Single seed in each aril.

Aril

Height Typically 15-28m.
Very long lived – typically up to 2000 years.
Often occurs in the dense shade of Oak woods. Distinctive ‘fluted’ trunk.

Leaves: Needles alternate along stem.

Uses past & present: Purple / Brown very durable wood.

Uses of wood - Used for furniture and for tool handles. Good firewood.
Can fetch very high prices when of right quality for furniture / veneer.

Food and drink - All parts of the tree except red aril are poisonous to man and animals
although deer browse young seedlings (seeds within the aril are also poisonous)
Birds eat the arils and spread the seed.