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Taxus Baccata is an evergreen tree of Europe, allied to
the Pines, but having a peculiar berrylike fruit instead
of a cone. These trees can live for many hundreds of
years. Some old Yew trees are believed to be over 2000
years old. They can grow up to 15-25 feet tall in the
wild.
Many Yew trees have trunks formed by a coalescence of
several stems, and they tend to become hollow when they
grow old. Can be closely trimmed. If let go without
trimming, it can become a very large bush. The wood of
the Yew is light red in color, compact, fine-grained, and
very elastic. The bark is very soft, branches or even the
whole tree can be killed if the bark is removed. Plants
produce very little fibrous root and should be planted in
their final positions when still small.
In early Spring the Yews can be seen in flower, and in
late Summer the fruits appear. It is in leaf all year, in
flower from March to April, and the seeds ripen from
September to November. Fine-textured needles are 1/2 to 1
inch long, dark green on top and tinged yellowish beneath,
usually arranged in two rows along the twigs, making a
flat or V-shaped spray.
The flowers are dioecious, individual flowers are either
male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any
one plant, and the red fruits are produced only by female
plants. The red berry-like cones are very conspicuous and
may persist on the branches well into Winter. The fruit
is produced mainly on the undersides of one-year old
branches. The fruits, with their bright arils, the fleshy
covering over the seeds, look at first like small acorns,
but they ripen into bright red berries. It is the seeds
inside the fruit that is poisonous.
Hardiness zone 6, (-5°F/ -20°C) in Winter. A very cold
hardy plant when dormant, tolerating temperatures down to
about -20°C. A very easy plant to grow, it is extremely
tolerant of cold and heat, sunny and shady positions.
Thrives in almost any soil, acid or alkaline, as long as
it is well-drained. Grows well in a medium loamy
soil. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate
drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds and
atmospheric pollution.
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