#64 ENGLISH YEW ARBOUR
Taxus baccata
Planted: 1916
The Yew Arbour is at the western end of the Chinese and Japanese section.
| Distribution: | Native to all countries of Europe (except Iceland and northern Scandanavia), the Caucasus, eastwards to northern Iran, south to Morocco and Algeria. Felled, nearly to extinction, in much of Europe. |
| Planting Date: | In 1916 Mr Hammond planted x trees in a semi-circle, of which y survive. Purchased from J Cheal and Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Crawley, West Sussex. |
| Growth Habit: | Small to medium-sized evergreen tree. |
| Bark: | The bark is thin, scaly brown, and comes off in small flakes aligned with the stem. |
| Leaf: | The leaves are flat, dark green, 1 to 4 cm long, 2 to 3 mm wide and arranged spirally on the stem. The leaf bases are twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows on either side of the stem. On erect leading shoots the spiral arrangement is more obvious. The leaves are poisonous. |
| Flowers: | Insignificant |
| Fruit: | The seed cones are modified, each cone containing a single seed, which is 4 to 7 mm long, and partly surrounded by a fleshy scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril. The aril is 8 to 15 mm long, wide and open at the end. The arils mature 6 to 9 months after pollination, and with the seed contained, are eaten by thrushes, waxwings and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings. Maturation of the arils is spread over 2 to 3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal. The seeds are poisonous but are opened and eaten by some bird species, including finches and tits. The male cones are globose, 3 to 6 mm in diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. Yews are mostly dioecious (either male or female), occasionally monoecious, or change sex with time. |
| Toxicity: | Most parts of the plant are poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion and through the skin; consumption of even a small amount of the foliage can result in death. Certain compounds in the bark and leaves have efficacy as anti-cancer agents. |
| Potential tree size | 10 to 20 m tall, with a trunk up to 6 m girth. |
| Uses: | Traditionally found in churchyards. The wood was historically important in the Middle Ages in items such as musical instruments, furniture, and longbows. In the modern day it is not considered a commercial crop due to its very slow growth, but it is valued for hedging and topiary. |
| Plant Hunter: | Native |
| Introduction Date: | Native |
| Anecdotes and Comments: | Can reach 400 to 600 years of age. Some specimens are said to be 2,000 years old but difficult to estimate accurately. Newry in Northern Ireland is an anglicization of An Iúraigh, an oblique form of An Iúrach, which means “the grove of yew trees”. All the other English Yews in the Arboretum have grown from seed dispersed by birds. |