Taxus baccata

{{Short description|Species of conifer in the family Taxaceae}} {{good article}} {{For|the taxonomic synonym described by Thunb.|Cephalotaxus harringtonii}} {{Use British English|date=September 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Speciesbox | image = Taxus baccata MHNT.jpg | image_caption = Shoot with immature cones, and a mature cone with a fleshy aril, the only non-toxic part of the plant | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="Farjon-2017"/> | genus = Taxus | species = baccata | authority = L. | range_map = Taxus baccata range.svg | range_map_caption = {{Color box|#70A800}} Native range <big>'''✖'''</big> Isolated population {{Color box|#FFD37F}} Introduced and naturalised area <big>▲</big> Isolated population<ref name="Benham-2016">Benham, S. E., Houston Durrant, T., Caudullo, G., de Rigo, D., 2016. "''Taxus baccata'' in Europe: distribution, habitat, usage and threats". In: San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., de Rigo, D., Caudullo, G., Houston Durrant, T., Mauri, A. (Eds.), ''[http://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/european-atlas-of-forest-tree-species/ European Atlas of Forest Tree Species]''. Publications Office of the EU, Luxembourg, pp. e015921+</ref> | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Taxus baccata L. |url=http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000408637#synonyms |access-date=2021-10-09 |website=www.worldfloraonline.org}}</ref> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list| * ''Cephalotaxus adpressa'' Beissn. * ''Cephalotaxus brevifolia'' Beissn. * ''Cephalotaxus tardiva'' Siebold ex Endl. * ''Taxus adpressa'' Carrière * ''Taxus aure'' K.Koch * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''aurea'' (J.Nelson) Pilg. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''dovastoniana'' (Leight.) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''elegantissima'' (C.Lawson) Beissn. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''erecta'' (Loudon) Pilg. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''ericoides'' (Carrière) Pilg. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''expansa'' (Carrière) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''glauca'' (Jacques ex Carrière) Beissn. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''linearis'' (Carrière) Pilg. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''lutea'' Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''pendula'' (J.Nelson) Pilg. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''pendula-graciosa'' (Overeynder) Beissn. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''pyramidalis'' (C.Lawson) Beissn. * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''repandens'' (Parsons) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''semperaurea'' (Dallim.) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''stricta'' (C.Lawson) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''variegata'' (Weston) Rehder * ''Taxus baccata'' f. ''xanthocarpa'' Kuntze * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''adpressa-aurea'' A.Henry * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''cavendishii'' Hornibr. * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''dovastoniana'' Leight. * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''dovastonii-aurea'' Sénécl. * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''dovastonii-aureovariegata'' Beissn. * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''dovastonii-variegata'' Gordon * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''elegantissima'' C.Lawson * ''Taxus baccata'' var. I Loudon * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''glauca'' Jacques ex Carrière * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''lutea'' Endl. * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''macrocarpa'' Lavallée * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''pendula-overeynderi'' Fitschen * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''prostrata'' Bean * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''pyramidalis'' C.Lawson * ''Taxus baccata'' var. ''variegata'' Weston * ''Taxus baccifera'' Theophr. ex Bubani * ''Taxus columnaris'' K.Koch * ''Taxus baccifera'' Theophr. ex Bubani * ''Taxus columnaris'' K.Koch * ''Taxus communis'' J.Nelson * ''Taxus communis'' var. ''pyramidalis'' (hort. ex Ravenscr., C. Lawson et al.) Nelson * ''Taxus disticha'' Wender. ex Henkel & Hochst. * ''Taxus dovastonii'' Carrière * ''Taxus elegantissima'' Carrière * ''Taxus elvastonensis'' Beissn. * ''Taxus empetrifolia'' Gordon * ''Taxus erecta'' Carrière * ''Taxus ericoides'' Carrière * ''Taxus expansa'' K.Koch * ''Taxus fastigiata'' Lindl. * ''Taxus foxii'' Carrière * ''Taxus hibernica'' Hook. ex Loudon * ''Taxus horizontalis'' Carrière * ''Taxus imperialis'' Gordon * ''Taxus jacksonii'' K.Koch * ''Taxus lugubris'' Salisb. * ''Taxus marginata'' Carrière * ''Taxus michelii'' Carrière * ''Taxus microphylla'' Gordon * ''Taxus mitchellii'' Carrière * ''Taxus monstrosa'' Gordon * ''Taxus nana'' Parl. * ''Taxus parvifolia'' Wender. * ''Taxus pectinata'' Gilib. * ''Taxus pendula'' Carrière * ''Taxus pyramidalis'' (hort. ex Ravenscr., C. Lawson et al.) Severin * ''Taxus pyramidalis'' Carrière * ''Taxus recurvata'' C.Lawson * ''Taxus sparsifolia'' Loudon * ''Taxus tardiva'' (Siebold ex Endl.) C.Lawson * ''Taxus variegata'' Carrière * ''Taxus virgata'' Wall. ex Gordon * ''Verataxus adpressa'' (Carrière) Carrière }} }}

'''''Taxus baccata''''' is an Old World species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae. It is the tree originally known as '''yew''', though to distinguish it from related species it is sometimes called '''common yew''',<ref name="RHS Plant selector">{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/18001/Taxus-baccata/Details |access-date=5 March 2021 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society}}</ref> '''European yew''', or, in North America, '''English yew'''.<ref>{{PLANTS|id=TABA80|taxon=Taxus baccata|access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> It is a woodland tree in its native range, including much of Eurasia and Northwest Africa. All parts of the plant except the fleshy aril are poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and transpiration through the skin.

The wood has been prized for making longbows and for musical instruments such as lutes. Yews are often grown as ornamental trees, hedges or topiaries, including in churchyards, where they sometimes reach great age; many explanations have been given for this planting, especially that the yew is associated with death, immortality, and rebirth. Multiple place names derive from the Proto-Celtic ''*eburos'', but scholars disagree as to whether this meant the yew tree.

== Taxonomy ==

The species ''Taxus baccata'' was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his ''Species Plantarum''. The name remains accepted, despite the many descriptions by later taxonomists, resulting in 108 synonyms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Species Plantarum |date=1753 |location=Stockholm |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |page=1040}}</ref><ref name="POWO">{{cite web |title=Taxus baccata L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:306036-2 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Kew |access-date=29 September 2025}}</ref> Linnaeus created the generic name ''Taxus'', perhaps from the Greek ''toxon'', a bow.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taxus Genus (yew) |url=https://conifersociety.org/conifers/taxus |publisher=American Conifer Society |access-date=28 September 2025}}</ref>

The word ''yew'' is from Old English ''īw, ēow'', ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ''*h₁eyHw-'', via Proto-Germanic ''*iwo'', which also gave rise to Celtic forms such as Old Irish ''ēo'', Welsh ''ywen''. It became Old English ''iw, eow'' and Middle English ''eu''.<ref name="Online Etym">{{cite web |title=yew (n.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/yew |access-date=27 September 2025 |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Simms |first=Douglas |title=A Celto-Germanic Etymology for Flora and Fauna which will Boar Yew |url=https://www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/colloquia/pdf/SIMMS07.doc |access-date=26 September 2025 |publisher=Southern Illinois University Edwardsville}}</ref> ''Baccata'' is Latin for 'bearing berries'.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin: bacccate: baccatus (adj.A) |url=https://www.mobot.org/mobot/latindict/keyDetail.aspx?keyWord=baccate |access-date=27 September 2025 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden}}</ref>

== Description ==

Yews are small to medium-sized evergreen trees, growing up to {{convert|10|-|20|m|ft|round=5}} or exceptionally {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall, with a trunk up to {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on|frac=2}} or exceptionally {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on|frac=2}} in diameter. The bark is thin, scaly reddish-brown, and comes off in small flakes aligned with the stem. The leaves are flat, dark green, {{convert|1|-|4|cm|in|frac=2}} long, {{convert|2|-|3|mm|frac=16}} broad, and arranged spirally on the stem, but with the leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows on either side of the stem, except on erect leading shoots where the spiral arrangement is more obvious.<ref name="Rushforth-1999">{{cite book |last=Rushforth |first=K. |year=1999 |chapter=Yews |title=Trees of Britain and Europe |publisher=Collins |isbn=0-00-220013-9}}</ref><ref name="Mitchell-1972">{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=A. F. |year=1972 |title=Conifers in the British Isles |publisher=Forestry Commission Booklet 33}}</ref><ref name="Mitchell-1978">{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Alan |year=1978 |orig-date=1974 |edition=2nd |chapter=Common Yew |pages=51–52 |title=Trees of Britain and Northern Europe |publisher=Collins |isbn=0-00-219213-6}}</ref>

The seed cones are modified, each cone containing a single seed, which is {{convert|4|-|7|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long and almost surrounded by a fleshy scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like aril. The aril is {{convert|8|-|15|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long and wide and open at the end. The arils mature 6 to 9 months after pollination.<ref name="Rushforth-1999"/><ref name="Mitchell-1972"/><ref name="Mitchell-1978"/>

The aril is gelatinous and very sweet tasting. The male cones are globose, {{convert|3|-|6|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} in diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. Yews are mostly dioecious with male and female cones on separate trees, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time.<ref name="Rushforth-1999"/><ref name="Mitchell-1972"/>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180> File:Taxus baccata tree.jpg|Habit File:Taxus 02.jpg|Bark File:Cleaned-Illustration Taxus baccata.jpg|Botanical illustration </gallery>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="180" heights="180"> File:Taxusvruchten.JPG|Foliage and female cones with red arils File:Taxus baccata MHNT flowers male.jpg|Male cones File:Taxus baccata MHNT seed.jpg|Seeds </gallery>

== Distribution ==

The yew is native to all countries of Europe (except Iceland), the Caucasus, and beyond from Turkey eastwards to northern Iran. Its range extends south to Morocco and Algeria in North Africa,<ref name="Farjon-2017"/> and parts of Southwest and South Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sahai |first1=Pragati |last2=Sinha |first2=Vimlendu Bhushan |title=Collection of Taxus from Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India for Conservation in Non Natural Environment |journal=Plant Archives |date=2020 |url=https://www.plantarchives.org/SPL%20ISSUE%2020-2/346__2080-2083_.pdf}}</ref> A few populations are present in the archipelagos of the Azores<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schirone |first1=Bartolomeo |last2=Ferreira |first2=Raquel Caetano |last3=Vessella |first3=Federico |last4=Schirone |first4=Avra |last5=Piredda |first5=Roberta |last6=Simeone |first6=Marco Cosimo |title=Taxus baccata in the Azores: a relict form at risk of imminent extinction |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=1 June 2010 |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=1547–1565 |doi=10.1007/s10531-010-9786-0 |bibcode=2010BiCon..19.1547S |s2cid=11157386 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-010-9786-0 |access-date=7 December 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and Madeira.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vessella |first1=Federico |last2=Simeone |first2=Marco Cosimo |last3=Fernandes |first3=Francisco Manuel |last4=Schirone |first4=Avra |last5=Gomes |first5=Martinho Pires |last6=Schirone |first6=Bartolomeo |title=Morphological and molecular data from Madeira support the persistence of an ancient lineage of Taxus baccata L. in Macaronesia and call for immediate conservation actions |journal=Caryologia |date=1 June 2013 |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=162–177 |doi=10.1080/00087114.2013.821842 |s2cid=83854471 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The limit of its northern Scandinavian distribution is its sensitivity to frost, with global warming predicted to allow its spread inland.<ref name="Farjon-2017">{{Cite iucn|title=''Taxus baccata''|article-number=e.T42546A117052436 |last=Farjon |first=Aljos |author-link=Aljos Farjon |date=2013 |volume=2013 |errata=2017|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42546A2986660.en}}</ref> It has been introduced elsewhere, including the United States.<ref name="Plants of the World Online">{{cite web |title=''Taxus baccata'' L. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:306036-2 |access-date=2021-12-07 }}</ref>

== Habitat and ecology ==

The yew's richest central European populations are in Swiss yew-beech woodlands, on cool, steep marl slopes up to {{Convert|1400|m|ft}} in elevation in the Jura Mountains and Alpine foothills. In England it grows best on steep slopes of the chalk downs, forming extensive stands invading the grassland outside the beech woods. In more continental climates of Europe it fares better in mixed forests of both coniferous and mixed broadleaf-conifer composition. Under its evergreen shade, no other plants can grow.<ref name="Farjon-2017"/>

The species prefers steep rocky calcareous slopes. It rarely develops beyond saplings on acid soil when under a forest canopy, but is tolerant of soil pH when planted by humans, such as their traditional placement in churchyards and cemeteries, where some of the largest and oldest trees in northwestern Europe are found.<ref name="Farjon-2017"/> It grows well in well-drained soils,<ref name="Plants for a Future"/> tolerating nearly any soil type, typically humus and base-rich soils, but also on rendzina and sand soils given adequate moisture. They can survive temporary flooding and moderate droughts. Roots can penetrate extremely compressed soils, such as on rocky terrain and vertical cliff faces.<ref name="Benham-2016"/> It normally appears individually or in small groups within the understory, but forms stands throughout its range,<ref name="Benham-2016"/> such as in sheltered calcareous sites.<ref name="Plants for a Future"/> It is extremely shade-tolerant, with the widest temperature range for photosynthesis among European trees, able to photosynthesize in winter after deciduous trees have shed their leaves.<ref name="Benham-2016"/> It can grow under partial canopies of beech and other deciduous broad-leafed trees, though it only grows into large trees without such shade.<ref name="Farjon-2017"/>

The arils are eaten by birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings.<ref name="Rushforth-1999" /><ref name="Mitchell-1972" /><ref name="Mitchell-1978" /> Although they contain toxins, the kernels are extracted and eaten by some birds, such as hawfinches,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Hawfinch |url=http://wbrc.org.uk/WorcRecd/Issue%2020/hawfinch1.htm |access-date=2010-07-22 |publisher=Wbrc.org.uk}}</ref> greenfinches, and great tits.<ref name="Snow-2010">{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=David |title=Birds and Berries |last2=Snow |first2=Barbara |publisher=A & C Black |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4081-3822-9 |location=London |pages=29–30}}</ref>

== Conservation ==

Historically, yew populations were gravely threatened by felling for longbows and destruction to protect livestock from poisoning. It is now endangered in parts of its range due to intensive land use. The species is also harvested to meet pharmaceutical demand for taxanes. Trees are often damaged by browsing and bark stripping. Yew's thin bark makes it vulnerable to fire. Its toxicity protects against many insects, but the yew mite causes significant bud mortality, and seedlings can be killed by fungi.<ref name="Benham-2016" />

Clippings from ancient specimens in the United Kingdom, including the Fortingall Yew, were taken to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh to form a mile-long hedge. The purpose of this "Yew Conservation Hedge Project" is to maintain the DNA of ''Taxus baccata''.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 November 2008 |title=Ancient yew DNA preserved in hedge project |url=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/11/07/Ancient-yew-DNA-preserved-in-hedge-project/UPI-70171226088573/ |access-date=27 September 2013 |publisher=United Press International}}</ref> A conservation programme was run in Catalonia in the early 2010s by the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia in order to protect genetically endemic yew populations and preserve them from overgrazing and forest fires.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Casals |first1=Pere |last2=Camprodon |first2=Jordi |last3=Caritat |first3=Antonia |last4=Rios |first4=Ana |last5=Guixe |first5=David |last6=Garcia-Marti |first6=X |last7=Martin-Alarcon |first7=Santiago |last8=Coll |first8=Lluis |date=2015 |title=Forest structure of Mediterranean yew (Taxus baccata L.) populations and neighbor effects on juvenile yew performance in the NE Iberian Peninsula |url=http://arxiudigital.ctfc.cat/docs/upload/27_521_PereR2015.pdf |journal=Forest Systems |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=e042 |doi=10.5424/fs/2015243-07469 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In the framework of this programme, the 4th International Yew Conference was organised in the Poblet Monastery in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |date=2014 |title=IV International Yew Workshop: Management, conservation and culture of the yew forests in the Mediterrenean forest ecosystems (Proceedings) |url=http://www.taxus.cat/docs/llibre%20ponencies%20jornades%20teix.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906210738/http://www.taxus.cat/docs/llibre%20ponencies%20jornades%20teix.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-06 |website=Life TAXUS}}{{sic}}</ref> There has been a conservation programme in northern Portugal and Northern Spain (Cantabrian Range).<ref>{{cite web |title=LIFE Baccata Project |url=http://www.life-baccata.eu/es |website=LIFE Baccata EU project}}</ref>

== Harmfulness ==

=== Toxicity ===

alt=The molecular structure of taxine B |thumb |The structure of Taxine B, the cardiotoxic chemical in the yew plant

The entire plant is poisonous, with the exception of the aril (the red flesh of the "berry" covering the seed). Yews contain numerous toxic compounds, including alkaloids, ephedrine, nitriles, and essential oil. The most important toxins are taxine alkaloids; these are cardiotoxic compounds which act via calcium and sodium channel antagonism.<ref name="Garland-1998">{{cite book |title=Toxic plants and other natural toxicants |date=1998 |publisher=CAB International |last1=Garland |first1=Tam |last2=Barr |first2=A. Catherine |others=International Symposium on Poisonous Plants (5th : 1997 : Texas) |isbn=0-85199-263-3 |location=Wallingford, England |oclc=39013798}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alloatti |first1=G. |last2=Penna |first2=C. |last3=Levi |first3=R.C. |last4=Gallo |first4=M.P. |last5=Appendino |first5=G. |last6=Fenoglio |first6=I. |date=1996 |title=Effects of yew alkaloids and related compounds on guinea-pig isolated perfused heart and papillary muscle |journal=Life Sciences |volume=58 |issue=10 |pages=845–854 |pmid=8602118 |doi=10.1016/0024-3205(96)00018-5}}</ref> If any leaves or seeds of the plant are ingested, urgent medical attention is recommended as well as observation for at least six hours after the point of ingestion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.npis.org/toxbase.html |title=TOXBASE - National Poisons Information Service |access-date=2019-09-03 |archive-date=2020-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120023000/https://www.npis.org/Toxbase.html }}</ref><ref name="Plants for a Future">{{Cite web |title=Plants for a Future Taxus baccata |url=https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Taxus+baccata |access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>

Yew poisonings are relatively common in both domestic and wild animals which consume the plant accidentally,<ref name="ProMED-2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.promedmail.org/post/4789644 |access-date=25 January 2016 |date=24 January 2016 |title=JAPANESE YEW PLANT POISONING – USA: (IDAHO) PRONGHORN ANTELOPE |publisher=ProMED-mail}}</ref><ref name="ProMED-2011">{{Cite web |url=https://www.promedmail.org/post/20110222.0578 |access-date=25 January 2016 |date=22 February 2011 |title=PLANT POISONING, CERVID – USA: (ALASKA) ORNAMENTAL TREE, MOOSE |publisher=ProMED-mail}}</ref><ref name="Tiwary-2005">{{cite journal |last1=Tiwary |first1=Asheesh K. |last2=Puschner |first2=Birgit |last3=Kinde |first3=Hailu |last4=Tor |first4=Elizabeth R. |date=May 2005 |title=Diagnosis of Taxus (yew) poisoning in a horse |journal=Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=252–255> |doi=10.1177/104063870501700307 |pmid=15945382 |doi-access=free}}</ref> resulting in numerous livestock fatalities.<ref name="Krenzelok-1998">{{cite journal |last1=Krenzelok |first1=EP |title=Is the yew really poisonous to you? |journal= Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology |date=1998 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=219–23 |doi=10.3109/15563659809028942 |pmid=9656977 }}</ref> Taxines are absorbed efficiently via the skin.<ref name="Mitchell-1972"/> Rabbits and deer have a level of immunity to the poisonous alkaloids.<ref name="Farjon-2017"/>

According to Ondřej Piskač, "The lethal dose for an adult is reported to be 50 g of yew needles. Patients who ingest a lethal dose frequently die due to cardiogenic shock, in spite of resuscitation efforts."<ref name="Piskač-2015">{{cite journal |last1=Piskač |first1=Ondřej |title=Cardiotoxicity of yew |journal=Cor et Vasa |date=June 2015 |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=234–238 |doi=10.1016/j.crvasa.2014.11.003 |doi-access=free }}</ref> There are currently no known antidotes for yew poisoning, but drugs such as atropine have been used to treat the symptoms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Christina R. |last2=Hooser |first2=Stephen B. |title=Veterinary Toxicology |pages=947–954 |date=2018 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-811410-0 |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-811410-0.00066-0}}</ref> Taxine remains in the plant all year, with maximal concentrations appearing during the winter. Dried yew plant material retains its toxicity for several months,<ref>{{cite web |title=Guide to Poisonous Plants – College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences – Colorado State University |website=Colorado State University |url=https://csuvth.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/Plants/Details/57 |access-date=2019-09-05}}</ref> and even increases its toxicity as the water is removed.<ref name="Provet">{{cite web |title=Yew |url=http://www.provet.co.uk/lorgue/5a92fa3.htm |publisher=Provet |access-date=23 March 2013 |archive-date=2 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225310/http://www.provet.co.uk/lorgue/5a92fa3.htm }}</ref> Fallen leaves should therefore also be considered toxic. Poisoning usually occurs when leaves of yew trees are eaten, but in at least one case, a victim inhaled sawdust from a yew tree.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=José Luis |last1=Hernández Hernández |first2=Fernando |last2=Quijano Terán |first3=Jesús |last3=González Macías |year=2010 |title=Intoxicación por tejo |trans-title=Yew poisoning |journal=Medicina Clínica |volume=135 |issue=12 |pages=575–576 |doi=10.1016/j.medcli.2009.06.036 |pmid=19819481 |language=es }}</ref>

=== Allergenicity ===

Male yews are extremely allergenic, blooming and releasing abundant amounts of pollen in the spring, with an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. Completely female yews have an OPALS rating of 1, the lowest possible, trapping pollen while producing none.<ref name="Ogren-2015">{{cite book |last=Ogren |first=Thomas |title=The Allergy-Fighting Garden |date=2015 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=978-1-60774-491-7 |page=205}}</ref> While yew pollen does not contain sufficient taxine alkaloids to cause poisoning, its allergenic potential has been implicated in adverse reactions to paclitaxel treatment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vanhaelen |first1=Maurice |last2=Duchateau |first2=Jean |last3=Vanhaelen-Fastré |first3=Renée |last4=Jaziri |first4=Mondher|date=January 2002|title=Taxanes in Taxus baccata Pollen: Cardiotoxicity and/or Allergenicity? |url=http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-2002-19865|journal=Planta Medica |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=36–40 |doi=10.1055/s-2002-19865 |pmid=11842324 |bibcode=2002PlMed..68...36V |s2cid=260283336 |access-date=2022-03-08 |archive-date=2018-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604103457/https://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055%2Fs-2002-19865 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Uses ==

Yew wood was historically important, finding use in the Middle Ages in items such as musical instruments, furniture, and longbows. The species was felled nearly to extinction in much of Europe. 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.<ref name="Benham-2016" /> Certain compounds in yew clippings are precursors of the chemotherapy drug taxol.<ref>National Non-Food Crops Centre, [http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=2447;isa=DBRow;op=show;dbview_id=2329 "Yew"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326040805/http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=2447;isa=DBRow;op=show;dbview_id=2329|date=2009-03-26}}. Retrieved on 2009-04-23.</ref>

=== Woodworking ===

Wood from the yew is a closed-pore softwood, similar to cedar and pine. Easy to work, it is among the hardest of the softwoods, yet it possesses a remarkable elasticity, making it ideal for products that require springiness, such as bows.<ref>{{Cite web |title=European Yew |url=https://www.wood-database.com/european-yew/#google_vignette |publisher=The Wood Database}}</ref> The wood is esteemed for cabinetry and tool handles.<ref name="Plants for a Future" /> The hard, slow-growing wood also finds use in gates, furniture, parquet floors, and paneling. Its typical burls and contorted growth, with intricate multicolored patterns, make it attractive for carving and woodturning, but also make the wood unsuited for construction.<ref name="Farjon-2017" /> It is good firewood and is sometimes burnt as incense.<ref name="Plants for a Future" /> Due to all parts of the yew and its volatile oils being poisonous and cardiotoxic,<ref name="Rushforth-1999" /><ref name="Mitchell-1972" /><ref name="Robertson-2018">{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=John |date=2018 |title=Taxus baccata, yew |url=http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/taxus_baccata.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116083824/http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/taxus_baccata.htm |archive-date=2019-11-16 |website=Poison Garden}}</ref> a mask should be worn if one comes in contact with sawdust from the wood.<ref name="Ancient-yew.org">{{Cite web |title=How poisonous is the yew? |url=http://www.ancient-yew.org/s.php/frequently-asked-questions/2/2#howpoisonous |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011162304/http://www.ancient-yew.org/s.php/frequently-asked-questions/2/2#howpoisonous |archive-date=2011-10-11 |access-date=2010-07-22 |publisher=Ancient-yew.org}}</ref>

One of the world's oldest surviving wooden artifacts is a Clactonian yew spear head,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Clacton spear, a picture and description |url=http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/organicprtsclactonspearlrg.htm |website=www.lithiccastinglab.com}}</ref> found in 1911 at Clacton-on-Sea, in Essex, England. Known as the Clacton Spear, it is around 400,000 years old.<ref name="White-2008">{{cite web |last=White |first=T. S. |author2=Boreham, S. |author3=Bridgland, D. R. |author4=Gdaniec, K. |author5=White, M. J. |year=2008 |title=The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Cambridgeshire |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/12317641/the-lower-and-middle-palaeolithic-of-cambridgeshire |access-date=23 March 2013 |publisher=English Heritage Project}}</ref><ref name="Laing 1980">{{cite book |last1=Laing |first1=Lloyd |title=The Origins of Britain |last2=Laing |first2=Jennifer |date=1980 |publisher=Book Club Associates |isbn=0-7100-0431-1 |pages=50–51}}</ref> Another spear made from yew is the Lehringen spear found in Germany, dating to around 120,000 years ago, thought to have been created by Neanderthals, and near the skeleton of a straight-tusked elephant which it was likely used to kill.<ref name="Milks 2020">Milks, A. (2020) ''[https://sticks-and-stones.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/milks-2021.pdf Yew wood, would you? An exploration of the selection of wood for Pleistocene spears].'' In: Berihuete-Azorin, M., Martin Seijo, M., Lopez-Bulto, O. and Pique, R. (eds.) The Missing Woodland Resources: Archaeobotanical studies of the use of plant raw materials. Advances in Archaeobotany, 6 (6). Barkhuis Publishing, Groningen, pp. 5-22. {{ISBN|9789493194359}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="180" heights="180"> File:Taxus baccata MHNT coupe (cropped).jpg|Section of wood showing tree rings File:Clacton Spear 2018.JPG|The Clacton Spear, the tip of a yew spear {{circa}} 400,000 years old </gallery>

=== Longbows ===

The trade of yew wood to England for longbows was so robust that it depleted the stocks of good-quality, mature yew over a vast area. The first documented import of yew bowstaves to England was in 1294. In 1423, the Polish king commanded protection of yews in order to cut exports, facing nearly complete destruction of local yew stock.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sztyk |first=Romuald |date=October 2003 |title=Obrót nieruchomościami w świetle prawa o ochronie środowiska |trans-title=Real estate transactions in the light of environmental protection law |journal=Rejent - Miesięcznik Notariatu Polskiego |language=pl |volume=10 |issue=150 |page=227 |issn=1230-669X}}</ref> In 1470, compulsory archery practice was renewed, and hazel, ash, and laburnum were specifically allowed for practice bows. Supplies still proved insufficient until by the Statute of Westminster in 1472, every ship coming to an English port had to bring four bowstaves for every tun.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Britain |first=Great |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKU3AAAAMAAJ |title=Statutes at Large ...: (43 v.) ... From Magna charta to 1800 |date=1762 |page=406 |language=en |quote=...because that our sovereign lord the King, by a petition delivered to him in the said parliament, by the commons of the same, hath perceived That the great scarcity of bowstaves is now in this realm, and the bowstaves that be in this realm be sold as an excessive price...}}</ref>

In 1507, the Holy Roman Emperor asked the Duke of Bavaria to stop cutting yew, but the trade was profitable, and in 1532, the royal monopoly was granted for the usual quantity "if there are that many". In 1562, the Bavarian government sent a long plea to the Holy Roman Emperor asking him to stop the cutting of yew, and outlining the damage done to the forests by its selective extraction, which broke the canopy and allowed wind to destroy neighbouring trees. In 1568, despite a request from Saxony, no royal monopoly was granted because there was no yew to cut, and the next year, Bavaria and Austria similarly failed to produce enough yew to justify a royal monopoly. Forestry records in this area in the 17th century do not mention yew, and it seems that no mature trees were to be had. The English tried to obtain supplies from the Baltic, but at this period, bows were being replaced by guns in any case.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hageneder |first=Fred |title=Yew: A History |date=2007 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=978-0-7509-4597-4 |location=Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire |oclc=76851868}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="330" heights="100"> File:Englishlongbow.jpg|English longbow made of yew. It is {{convert|1.98|m|ftin|order=flip}} long with a draw force of {{convert|470|N|lbf|order=flip}}. </gallery>

=== Musical instruments ===

Yew has for centuries been used in musical instruments. Yew was a prized wood for lute construction from the 16th century, used by the Tieffenbrucker family of luthiers in Venice and then by other lute-makers.<ref name="Bouquet 2010">{{cite web |last1=Bouquet |first1=Jonathan Santa Maria |date=1 April 2010 |title=The Lute |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/the-lute |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="180" heights="180"> File:Lute MET DP168843.jpg|Tieffenbrucker lute made of yew, spruce, ebony, and maple. Italy, late 16th century File:Mandolin MET DP169030.jpg|Italian mandolin made of yew, spruce, bone, and ebony. Italy, 1770 </gallery>

=== Horticulture ===

Yew is widely used in landscaping and ornamental horticulture. Due to its dense, dark green, mature foliage, and its tolerance of severe pruning, it is used especially for formal hedges and topiary. Its relatively slow growth rate means that in such situations it needs to be clipped only once per year (in late summer). It tolerates a wide range of soils and situations, including shallow chalk soils and shade.<ref>Hillier Nurseries, "The Hillier Manual Of Trees And Shrubs", David & Charles, 1998, p863</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brooks-Lim |first1=Elizabeth W. L. |last2=Mérette |first2=Sandrine A. |last3=Hawkins |first3=Barbara J. |last4=Maxwell |first4=Carolyn |last5=Washbrook |first5=Andrew |last6=Shapiro |first6=Aaron M. |date=March 2022 |title=Fatal ingestion of Taxus baccata: English yew |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.14941 |journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=820–826 |doi=10.1111/1556-4029.14941 |pmid=34779510 |s2cid=244116064 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The species is tolerant of urban pollution, cold, and heat, though soil compaction can harm it. It is slow-growing, taking about 20 years to grow {{Convert|4.5|m|ft}} tall, and vertical growth effectively stops after 100 years.<ref name="Plants for a Future" />

In Europe, the species grows naturally north to Molde in southern Norway, but is used in gardens further north. It is popular as a bonsai in many parts of Europe.<ref name="D'Cruz">{{cite web |last=D'Cruz |first=Mark |title=Ma-Ke Bonsai Care Guide for Taxus baccata |url=http://makebonsai.com/guide/bonsailink.asp?quicklink=5065&name=Taxus_baccata |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316203546/http://makebonsai.com/guide/bonsailink.asp?quicklink=5065&name=Taxus_baccata |archive-date=2012-03-16 |access-date=2011-11-19 |publisher=Ma-Ke Bonsai}}</ref>

Well over 200 yew cultivars have been named. The most popular of these are the Irish yew (''T. baccata'' var 'Fastigiata'), selected from two trees found growing in Ireland, and the several cultivars with yellow leaves, collectively known as "golden yew".<ref name="Mitchell-1972" /><ref name="Dallimore-1966">{{cite book |last=Dallimore |first=W. |title=A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae |last2=Jackson |first2=A. B. |publisher=Arnold |year=1966 |edition=4th |chapter=Taxus}}</ref>

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:<ref>{{cite web |date=July 2017 |title=AGM Plants - Ornamental |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |access-date=1 December 2018 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |page=100}}</ref><ref name="RHS Plant selector"/>

{{div col|colwidth=20em}} *''T. baccata'' 'Fastigiata' (Irish yew)<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Fastigiata'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/95998/Taxus-baccata-Fastigiata-(f)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Fastigiata Aureomarginata' (golden Irish yew)<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Fastigiata Aureomarginata' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/57475/Taxus-baccata-Fastigiata-Aureomarginata-(m-v)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Icicle'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/109716/Taxus-baccata-Icicle/Details |title=RHS Plantfinder - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Icicle' |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=1 December 2018}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Repandens'<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Repandens'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/99126/Taxus-baccata-Repandens-(f)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Repens Aurea'<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Repens Aurea' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91406/Taxus-baccata-Repens-Aurea-(v)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Semperaurea'<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Semperaurea' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/98202/Taxus-baccata-Semperaurea-(m)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> *''T. baccata'' 'Standishii'<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Taxus baccata'' 'Standishii' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/92969/Taxus-baccata-Standishii-(f)/Details |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref> {{div col end}}

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="200" heights="140"> File:English Yew 600.jpg|An Irish yew, var. 'Fastigiata', at Kenilworth Castle File:Labyrinth, Schönbrunn garden.jpg|Yew hedges for the Schönbrunn maze File:Ombersley Topiary (50710812887).jpg|The slow growth and tolerance of pruning make yew popular for topiary. </gallery>

=== Culinary ===

The edible arils, often called "yew berries" (or traditionally as "snotty gogs" in parts of England<ref>{{cite web |title=Word of Mouth - Lords and Ladies: Folk Names for Plants and Flowers |url=http://www.listenersguide.org.uk/bbc/podcast/episode/?p=b006qtnz&e=m0019m7c |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Listener's Guide}}</ref>), are eaten by some foragers in western countries, though the seed inside the aril is toxic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yew Tree |url=https://www.wildfooduk.com/wild-plants/yew-tree/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=Wild Food UK |date=18 January 2018 }}</ref>

== Traditions ==

=== Longevity ===

The yew can reach at least 600 years of age, but ages are often overestimated.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mayer |first=Hannes |title=Waldbau auf soziologisch-ökologischer Grundlage |trans-title=Silviculture on socio-ecological basis |edition=4th |year=1992 |publisher=Fischer |language=de |isbn=3-437-30684-7 |page=97}}</ref> Ten yews in Britain are believed to predate the 10th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bevan-Jones |first=Robert |title=The ancient yew: a history of ''Taxus baccata'' |year=2004 |publisher=Windgather Press |location=Bollington |isbn=0-9545575-3-0 |page=28}}</ref> The potential age of yews is impossible to determine accurately and is subject to much dispute. There is rarely any wood as old as the entire tree, while the boughs themselves often become hollow with age, making ring counts impossible. Growth rates and archaeological work of surrounding structures suggest the oldest yews, such as the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, may be 2,000 years old or more, placing them among the oldest plants in Europe.<ref name="Harte-1996">Harte, J. (1996). How old is that old yew? ''At the Edge'' 4: 1–9.[http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/oldyews.htm online].</ref><ref name="Kinmonth-2006">Kinmonth, F. (2006). Ageing the yew – no core, no curve? ''International Dendrology Society Yearbook'' 2005: 41–46.</ref><ref name="Lewington-1999">Lewington, A., & Parker, E. (1999). ''Ancient Trees: Trees that Live for a Thousand Years''. London: Collins & Brown. {{ISBN|1-85585-704-9}}</ref> The Fortingall Yew has one of the largest recorded trunk girths in Britain, reportedly {{convert|16|-|17|m|abbr=on}} in the 18th century.<ref name="fls">{{cite web|url=https://forestryandland.gov.scot/learn/trees/yew|title=Yew|publisher=Forestry and Land Scotland|access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> The Llangernyw Yew in Clwyd, Wales, at another early saint site, is some 4,000–5,000 years old according to an investigation led by the botanist David Bellamy,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/43941 | title=Llangernyw }}</ref> who carbon-dated a yew in Tisbury, Wiltshire at around 4,000 years old.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tisburyparishchurch.org/just-visiting-4/ | title=The ancient yew tree | St Johns Tisbury }}</ref>

The Ankerwycke Yew is an ancient yew tree close to the ruins of St Mary's Priory, the site of a Benedictine nunnery built in the 12th century, near Wraysbury in Berkshire, England. It is a male tree with a girth of {{convert|8|m|ft}} at 0.3 metres.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=efc44999-bcef-4c72-b8a1-a9a647581ece |title=Ancient Tree Hunt |access-date=2010-03-08 |publisher=Woodland Trust |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914170610/http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=efc44999-bcef-4c72-b8a1-a9a647581ece |archive-date=2009-09-14 }}</ref> The tree is at least 1,400 years old,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bevan-Jones |first=Robert |title=The ancient yew: a history of ''Taxus baccata'' |year=2004 |publisher=Windgather Press |location=Bollington |isbn=0-9545575-3-0 |page=57}}</ref> and could be as old as 2,500 years.<ref name="National Trust-2">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/runnymede/features/ankerwycke |title=Ankerwycke |access-date=14 November 2016 |publisher=National Trust}}</ref>

The Balderschwang Yew, estimated to be 600 to 1,000 years old, may be the oldest tree in Germany.<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Haft |first=Jan |year=2007 |title=Deutschlands älteste Bäume |medium=Documentary film |language=German |publisher=Polyband |location=Munich | asin-tld = de | asin = B000NVIERC }}</ref> According to local legend, the Caesarsboom, Caesar's Tree in Lo, Belgium, is over 2,000 years old, though current estimates based on its size rather put it at 250. <ref>{{cite web |title=Gewone taxus 'Cesarboom' nabij de Westpoort in Lo, West-Vlaanderen, België |url=https://www.monumentaltrees.com/nl/bel/westvlaanderen/loreninge/928_westpoort/ |website=Monumentale bomen |access-date=27 September 2025 |language=nl}}</ref> The Florence Court Yew in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is the oldest tree of the Irish Yew cultivar, (''Taxus baccata'' 'Fastigiata'). The cultivar has become ubiquitous in cemeteries across the world, and it is believed that all known examples are from cuttings from this tree.<ref name="National Trust">{{cite web| publisher=National Trust| title=The original Irish Yew Tree at Florence Court| url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/florence-court/features/the-original-irish-yew-tree-at-florence-court| access-date=2018-07-15}}</ref>

The Bermiego Yew in Asturias, Spain stands {{convert|15|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall with a trunk diameter of {{convert|6.82|m|ftin|frac=2|abbr = on}} and a crown diameter of {{convert|15|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. It was declared a Natural Monument in 1995 by the Asturian government and is protected by the Plan of Natural Resources.<ref name="Gobierno del Principado de Asturias">{{cite web |title=Monumentos Naturales |url=https://www.asturias.es/portal/site/medioambiente/menuitem.1340904a2df84e62fe47421ca6108a0c/?vgnextoid=fe216c79ae973210VgnVCM10000097030a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=33d53d6b6311b110VgnVCM1000006a01a8c0RCRD&i18n.http.lang=es|publisher=Gobierno del Principado de Asturias |access-date=14 March 2013 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324090125/https://www.asturias.es/portal/site/medioambiente/menuitem.1340904a2df84e62fe47421ca6108a0c/?vgnextoid=fe216c79ae973210VgnVCM10000097030a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=33d53d6b6311b110VgnVCM1000006a01a8c0RCRD&i18n.http.lang=es|archive-date=24 March 2014}} Contains Word document "Monumento Natural Teixu de Bermiego".</ref>

The Borrowdale Yews were described by William Wordsworth in his 1815 poem "Yew Trees", including the lines:<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fraternal Four – William Wordsworth, 'Yew Trees' (1815) |url=https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/plantlife/2024/04/26/the-fraternal-four-william-wordsworth-yew-trees-1815/ |publisher=Cambridge University Faculty of English |access-date=27 September 2025 |date=26 April 2024}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>Of vast circumference and gloom profound This solitary Tree! -a living thing Produced too slowly ever to decay; Of form and aspect too magnificent To be destroyed. But worthier still of note Are those fraternal Four of Borrowdale, Joined in one solemn and capacious grove;</poem>}}

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180> File:Texu.jpg|The Bermiego Yew, Asturias, Spain File:The_Llangernyw_yew.jpg|The Llangernyw Yew, Conwy, Wales File:If_Estry.jpg|The Estry Yew, Normandy, France File:Ankerwyke-yew.jpg|The Ankerwycke Yew, Berkshire, England File:Alte Eibe in Balderschwang, Blick von Nord-Westen.jpg|The Balderschwang Yew, Bavaria, Germany </gallery>

=== Alphabets ===

In the Anglo-Saxon futhark, the thirteenth rune [[File:Runic letter iwaz.svg|24x20px|class=skin-invert ]] had a value that was possibly ''eu'', and which was formerly taken to represent Old English ''eo, eow, iw'' meaning "yew". The ''Runic Poem'' calls it ''eoh'', while the ''Codex Salisburgensis'' and ''Isruna Tracts'' name it ''ih''.<ref name="Mees 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Mees |first1=Bernard |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Alaric |editor1-link=Alaric Hall |title=The yew rune, yogh and yew |journal=Leeds Studies in English |date=2011 |pages=53–74 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1816723}}</ref>

In the ''Crann Ogham'', a variation on the ancient Irish ''Ogham'' alphabet which consists of a list of trees, 60x20px "yew" is the last in the main list of 20 trees, primarily symbolizing death. As the ancient Celts also believed in the transmigration of the soul, there is a secondary meaning of the eternal soul that survives death to be reborn in a new form.<ref name="Andrews 1897"/>

=== Place names ===

Words thought to mean 'yew tree' appear in some place names. Ydre in the South Swedish highlands means "place of yews".<ref name="Wahlberg-2003">{{cite book |editor-last1=Wahlberg |editor-first1=Mats |title=Svensk ortnamnslexikon |date=2003 |publisher=Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet |location=Uppsala |isbn=91-7229-020-X |page=375 |url=https://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/download/18.5850f85e15732ead0b325e/1529494467246/Svenskt%20ortnamnslexikon.pdf |access-date=April 30, 2019 |language=sv |archive-date=August 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807001456/http://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/download/18.5850f85e15732ead0b325e/1529494467246/Svenskt%20ortnamnslexikon.pdf }}</ref> Proto-Celtic *{{wikt-lang|cel-x-proto|eburos}} is the source of several placenames, but its association with the yew is disputed.<ref name="Breeze 2019"/><ref name="Schrijver 2015"/> If correct, it led to multiple forms: Old Irish {{lang|sga|ibar}}; Irish {{lang|ga|iobhar}}, {{lang|ga|iubhar}}, and {{lang|ga|iúr}} (as in Terenure ({{Irish place name|Tír an Iúir|land of the yew tree}})<ref>{{cite web |title=Tír an Iúir/Terenure |url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/55993 |website=logainm.ie |access-date=26 August 2025 |language=en}}</ref>), as well as Scottish Gaelic {{lang|gd|iubhar}}.<ref name="Delamarre-2003">Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', éditions errance 2003, p. 159.</ref> Thus, Newry, Northern Ireland is an anglicization of {{lang|ga|An Iúraigh}}, an oblique form of {{lang|ga|An Iúrach}}, which could mean "the grove of yew trees".<ref>Welcome sign in Newry, Northern Ireland, in English and Irish</ref> York ({{langx|non|Jórvík}}) is derived from the Brittonic name {{lang|cel|Eburākon}} (Latinised variously as {{lang|la|Eboracum}}, {{lang|la|Eburacum}}, from the Proto-Celtic.<ref name="Delamarre-2003"/>

=== Religion ===

==== Celtic ====

Several scholars have taken the Celtic word ''*eburos'' to mean "yew".<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sanz Aragonés, Alberto |author2=Tabernero Galán, Carlos |author3=Benito Bataneo, Juan Pedro |author4=de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia |title=Nueva divinidad céltica en un ara de Cuevos de Soria |language=es |journal=Madrider Mitteilungen |issue=52 |year=2011 |pages=440–456}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic |year=2009 |location=Leiden, Boston |publisher=Brill |page=112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sims-Williams |first=Patrick |title=Ancient Celtic Place-Names in Europe and Asia Minor |year=2006 |location=Oxford, Boston |publisher=Philological Society |page=78}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Delamarre |first=Xavier |title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise |year=2003 |location=Paris |publisher=Editions Errance |pages=159–160}}</ref> There is according to the scholar of English Ralph Elliott, "strong evidence" that the yew was important to the ancient Celtic peoples of Western Europe, perhaps having come to symbolise immortality through being evergreen.<ref name="Elliott 1957">{{cite journal |last=Elliott |first=Ralph Warren Victor |author-link=Ralph Elliott |title=Runes, Yews, and Magic |journal=Speculum |date=April 1957 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=250–261 |doi=10.2307/2849116 |jstor=2849116 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/Speculum/32/2/Runes_Yews_and_Magic*.html|url-access=subscription }}</ref> On the Iberian Peninsula, a deity ''Eburianus'' is named on a tombstone in Segovia, with related placenames like Ebura, and the Gallic peoples Eburanci, Eburones, and Eburovices.<ref name="Simón 2005"/> Julius Caesar recorded that the Eburones' chieftain Catuvolcus killed himself by consuming yew.<ref name="Simón 2005"/><ref>Caesar, ''De bello gallico'', 6, 31.</ref> The Roman historians Lucius Annaeus Florus<ref name="Simón 2005">{{cite journal |last=Simón |first=Francisco Marco |year=2005 |title=Religion and Religious Practices of the Ancient Celts of the Iberian Peninsula |url=https://uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_6/marco_simon_6_6.html |journal=E-Keltoi |volume=6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula |pages=287–345 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317185618/https://uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_6/marco_simon_6_6.html |archive-date=17 March 2005 }}</ref> and Orosius record that in the Cantabrian Wars, the besieged people at Mons Medullius killed themselves the same way.<ref>[http://attalus.org/translate/orosius6B.html#21 Orosius, ''Histories against the Pagans'', vi.21].</ref> The structures translated as "booths" or "temples", Latin ''fana'', mentioned by Roman historians such as Pliny the Elder, may have been hollow trees or structures of yew branches.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fry |first=Janis |title=Old laws protecting Yews |url=https://business.senedd.wales/documents/s97463/08.12.19%20Correspondence%20-%20Petitioner%20to%20Chair%20Additional%20information.html?CT=2 |publisher=Senedd, Wales |date=8 December 2019}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180> File:Laneast - Celtic cross and yew - geograph.org.uk - 511708.jpg|Scholars have proposed that the yew was important to Celtic peoples.<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> Celtic cross and yew tree, Laneast, Cornwall File:20150624Sorbus aucuparia1.jpg|The Proto-Celtic word ''*eburos'' may have meant the rowan, not the yew.<ref name="Schrijver 2015"/> </gallery>

Other linguists, such as Andrew Breeze and Peter Schrijver, dispute the etymological connection of ''*eburos'' and "yew".<ref name="Breeze 2019">{{cite journal |last=Breeze |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Breeze |title=Doubts on Irish Iubhar "Yew Tree" and Eburacum or York |journal=Вопросы ономастики  |volume=16 |issue=3 |year=2019 |pages=205–211 |doi=10.15826/vopr_onom.2019.16.3.040 |url=https://elar.urfu.ru/bitstream/10995/81306/1/vopon_2019_3_015.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Schrijver 2015"/> Breeze doubts that the Roman name of the city of York, ''Eburacum'', meant "place where yews grow".<ref name="Breeze 2019"/> Schrijver states that while ''*eburos'' was certainly the name of a plant, the only good evidence for its meaning "yew" is the Old Irish ''ibar'', Scottish Gaelic ''iubhar''. In other Celtic languages, it means other plants: Breton ''evor'' "alder buckthorn", and Welsh ''efwr'' "hogweed"; in Continental Celtic, it may have meant the rowan tree, as evidenced indirectly by German ''Eber-esche''.<ref name="Schrijver 2015"/> Schrijver agrees that names of people, places, and a god make use of ''*eburos'', but writes that the poisonings, as of Catuvolcus, do not prove a connection of the word with the yew, as the plant's toxicity was widely known, not limited to one tribe. He suggests that the Proto-Celtic ''*eburos'' probably meant the rowan, remaining as such on the continent, but becoming attached later to other plants in Ireland and Wales. The Welsh ''yw'' and Old Irish ''éo'' imply Proto-Celtic *''iwo'' for "yew"; Schrijver suggests this was the one and only Proto-Celtic name for the tree.<ref name="Schrijver 2015">{{cite book |last=Schrijver |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Schrijver |chapter=The meaning of Celtic* eburos |editor1=Oudaer, Guillaume |editor2=Hily, Gael |editor3=Le Bihan, Herve |title=Melanges en l'honneur de Pierre-Yves Lambert |location=Rennes |publisher=Tir |year=2015 |pages=65–76 |url=https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/350528/The_meaning_of_Celtic_eburos_Melanges_Pierre_Yves_Lambert.pdf |access-date=30 September 2025}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=450 heights=300> File:Peter Schrijver's reconstruction of Celtic etymology of yew.svg|Diagram of Peter Schrijver's reconstruction of the etymology of the Celtic words for "yew"<ref name="Schrijver 2015"/> </gallery>

==== Nordic ====

The tree ''Yggdrasil'' of Norse cosmology has traditionally been interpreted as a giant ash tree. Some scholars now believe that the tree is most likely a yew.<ref name="Bevan-Jones 2017">{{cite book |last=Bevan-Jones |first=Robert |title=The Ancient Yew: A History of Taxus baccata |year=2017 |publisher=Windgather Press |edition=3rd |pages=150–}}</ref> {{ill|Frits Läffler|sv}} suggested that the sacred tree at the Temple at Uppsala was a yew.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/download/18.5850f85e15732ead0b333c/1529494814817/Svenska%20landsm%C3%A5l%20och%20Svenskt%20folkliv_1911.pdf |title=Det evigt grönskande trädet vid Uppsala hednatämpel |language=sv |journal=Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv |year=1911 |pages=617–696 |first=Frits |last=Läffler |archive-date=2019-04-16 |access-date=2019-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416171859/https://www.sprakochfolkminnen.se/download/18.5850f85e15732ead0b333c/1529494814817/Svenska%20landsm%C3%A5l%20och%20Svenskt%20folkliv_1911.pdf }}</ref>

==== Churchyards ====

The yew is traditionally and regularly found in churchyards in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Normandy in Northern France. Some examples can be found in La Haye-de-Routot or La Lande-Patry. It is said up to 40 people could stand inside one of the La-Haye-de-Routot yew trees, and the Le Ménil-Ciboult yew is probably the largest, with a girth of 13 m.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The thickest, tallest, and oldest trees worldwide|url=https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/records/ |access-date=2022-01-27| website=www.monumentaltrees.com}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180> File:LaHayeDeRoutotIf1 (cleaned).JPG|Norman chapel in a yew tree, Church of Notre-Dame, La Haye-de-Routot, France File:Farnborough, St Giles the Abbot, yew tree and bench in the churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 3394871.jpg|Yew tree and bench, St Giles the Abbot, Farnborough, Hampshire File:Churchyard yew, Llanveynoe, Herefordshire - geograph.org.uk - 7226774.jpg|Churchyard yew, Llanveynoe, Herefordshire St Edwards Church - Stow on th Wold.jpg|Yews framing door of St Edward's Church, Stow-on-the-Wold </gallery>

Multiple explanations for the association with churchyards have been proposed. Some Anglo-Saxon churches may have been built intentionally on "places of assembly, not improbably sites of earlier pagan fanes where ritual and yew magic went hand in hand."<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> Another theory is that yews were planted at religious sites as their long life was suggestive of eternity, or because, being toxic when ingested, they were seen as trees of death.<ref name="Andrews 1897">{{cite book |editor-last=Andrews |editor-first=William |year=1897 |title=Antiquities and Curiosities of the Church |publisher=William Andrews & Co. |location=London |pages=256–278}}</ref> Some yews existed before their churches, as preachers held services beneath them when churches were unavailable. The ability of their branches to root and sprout anew after touching the ground may have caused yews to become symbols of death, rebirth, and therefore immortality.<ref name=DLP/> King Edward I of England ordered yew trees to be planted in churchyards to protect the buildings.<ref name=DLP/> The tradition of planting yew trees in churchyards throughout Britain and Ireland may have started as a resource for longbows, such as at "Ardchattan Priory, whose yew trees, according to other accounts, were inspected by Robert the Bruce and cut to make at least some of the longbows used at the Battle of Bannockburn."<ref name="MacTaggart 2000">{{Cite journal |last=MacTaggart |first=Kenneth D. |date=2000-02-18 |title=The MacPhedrans of Loch Awe and Loch Fyne |url=https://archive.org/details/tgsi-vol-lxii-2000-2002/page/34 |journal=Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness |volume=62 |page=35}}</ref> Another explanation is that yews were planted to discourage farmers and drovers from letting animals wander onto the burial grounds, the poisonous foliage being the disincentive. A further possible reason is that fronds and branches of yew were often used as a substitute for palms on Palm Sunday.<ref>{{harvnb|Andrews|1897}} "The majority of authorities agree that in England; branches of yew were generally employed; and some express the opinion, that the principal object of the tree being planted in churchyards, was to supply branches of it for this purpose."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.churchyear.net/palmsunday.html |title=Palm Sunday: All About Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion |publisher=Churchyear.net |access-date=2010-07-22}}</ref><ref name="DLP">{{Cite web |title=DID YOU KNOW? |url=https://www.dlrcoco.ie/en/parks/cemeteries/didyouknow.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425024313/http://www.dlrcoco.ie/parks/cemeteries/didyouknow.htm |archive-date=2016-04-25 |publisher=Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" |+ Proposed explanations for yews in churchyards |- ! scope="col" | Reason ! scope="col" | Explanations |- | Symbolised death, rebirth, eternity, immortality | Toxic;<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> long-lived;<ref name="Andrews 1897"/> ability to sprout anew;<ref name=DLP/> evergreen, with "somber appearance"<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> |- | Supernatural protection for church buildings<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> | Association with death/rebirth, as above<ref name=DLP/><ref name="Elliott 1957"/> |- | Anglo-Saxon churches built on pagan sites | Decision to adapt remnants of paganism to Christianity<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> |- | To discourage grazing in churchyards | Toxic{{sfn|Andrews|1897}} |- | To supply fronds for Palm Sunday | Easier than getting palm fronds;{{sfn|Andrews|1897}} association with death/rebirth, as above, fitting for Palm Sunday<ref name="Elliott 1957"/> |- | To supply wood for longbows | Use as weapons,<ref name="MacTaggart 2000"/> keeping the toxic trees away from grazing animals<ref>{{cite web |title=Tree for Life – The Yew |url=https://woodworkersinstitute.com/tree-for-life-the-yew/ |publisher=Woodworkers Institute |access-date=28 September 2025}}</ref> |}

== References ==

== Further reading ==

* Chetan, A. and Brueton, D. (1994) ''The Sacred Yew'', London: Arkana, {{ISBN|0-14-019476-2}} * Hartzell, H. (1991) ''The yew tree: a thousand whispers: biography of a species'', Eugene: Hulogosi, {{ISBN|0-938493-14-0}}

== External links ==

{{Wikiquote|Yew}} * [http://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/photos-europeanyew/ Monumentaltrees.com: Images and location details of ancient yews] * [http://www.taxus.cat/?page_id=358 Life+ TAXUS.cat: Taxus conservation programme in Catalonia ] * Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC)—[http://www.ctfc.cat/funcionament-decosistemes-i-biodiversitat/?lang=en#title Biology Conservation Department] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112000926/http://www.ctfc.cat/funcionament-decosistemes-i-biodiversitat/?lang=en#title |date=2017-01-12 }} * [http://www.euforgen.org/species/taxus-baccata/ ''Taxus baccata'']—distribution map, genetic conservation units, and related resources from the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)

baccata Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of Iran Category:Flora of North Africa Category:Flora of the Azores Category:Flora of the Caucasus Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Garden plants of Asia Category:Garden plants of Europe Category:Medicinal plants of Asia Category:Medicinal plants of Europe Category:Ornamental trees Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Plants used in bonsai Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Trees of humid continental climate Category:Trees of mild maritime climate Category:Trees of Europe