Post by @simonakeroydgardener

The Yew tree (Taxus baccata) is the UK’s most deadly tree. All parts of the tree are deadly, as they contain a deadly, complex concoction of toxic alkaloids known as taxines. The only except to the poison is the fleshy, sticky red berries.(technically the red berries are arils). However, please do not even risk eating the red berries because hidden inside each one is a seed. Just a handful of these seeds are enough to do you some serious harm. It is highly likely but not proved that the poison used by Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni tribe from ancient Briton to end her life was an extract from the yew tree. There are other accounts during Roman occupation in Europe where people had used extracts of yew for this purpose. It is also thought that the poison poured into King Hamlet’s ear to murder him (prince hamlet’s father) was taxine, a liquid substance from the yew tree. In Shakespeare’s play the poison is described as ‘the juice of cursed hebenon.’ The old English name for the yew tree was heben. Finally, the irony is that although the yew tree is highly poisonous, it is also used in modern-day cancer treatments. Just like in the ancient pagan times, the tree appears to represent death but also rebirth, offering new hope.