Here in the northeast we don't have a good appreciation for Taxus. I don't blame people for disliking yews here. I do blame people for the general dislike of yews. I blame people for this because they have a habit of wanting very manicured square or globular shaped high maintenance hedges. Personally I'm not one for sheered hedges. While they might not be my forte, I can understand the appeal of them if they are done right and properly maintained. Because of the high demand for these geometrical monstrosities, Taxus x media is the most common yew in the suburban American landscape. After seeing so many yews pruned in disfiguring ways, I feel like many aren't willing to try others in the genus... not that they really look too different. Taxonomists don't even distinguish the different species, they group them all under a subspecies of baccata.
Taxus baccata is a historically interesting plant. They are fairly slow growing but can reach up to 90 feet in height creating large evergreen specimens at maturity. Yew branches hollow with age and branches generally do not last the entire lifetime of the tree. This makes it difficult to determine the age of a mature specimen because ring counts are not accurate. Despite this, the European Yew is still estimated to be the longest living trees in Europe reaching lifespans of over 2000 years.
The secret to the Taxus's long term success in Europe is its ability to take damage with low disease occurrence. In the Americas Yews haven't been so lucky. In the upper regions of North American Taxus canadensis is starting to disappear from forests because of deer over browsing. Meanwhile the Pacific Yew, Taxus brevifolia, has been over harvested because of its usefulness in cancer combating drugs. Even in the south Taxus floridana and Taxus globosa are both on the threatened list.
Taxus baccata at longwood gardens.
I guess both wiccans and other celtic religions used to hold Yews sacred as a tree of reincarnation. They were widely planted in cemeteries for this reason. Just remember that all parts except the arils are toxic so don't eat any part of the plant in hopes of reincarnation.
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