Yew

Where it grows

Common yew ranges across most of Europe, the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, and the Caucasus into northern Iran. It tolerates very deep shade and thrives on chalk and limestone, making it characteristic of British and French churchyards and ancient woodland understorey.

How to recognise it

A dense, dark-green evergreen with flat needles arranged in two ranks along the twigs. The bark is reddish-brown, peeling in flakes. Yews are dioecious; female trees produce a unique fleshy red “aril” surrounding a single seed — the only soft, sweet part of an otherwise highly poisonous plant.

Uses

English yew supplied the wood for the longbows of Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt — its combination of springy sapwood and rigid heartwood made it the technological backbone of medieval English warfare. Today the bark and needles supply paclitaxel (Taxol), a chemotherapy drug for ovarian, breast, and lung cancers.

Longevity

Several British churchyard yews — the Fortingall Yew in Scotland and the Llangernyw Yew in Wales — are estimated at 2,000 to 5,000 years old, possibly the oldest living things in Europe. The trees can regenerate by sending down roots from drooping branches, making age dating notoriously difficult.