February 6th: Day of the Yew Tree

According to the French Revolutionary Calendar, today is the Day of the yew tree. Here are 10 things you may not know about yews.

1. Yew trees belong to the genus Taxus, which derives from the Greek taxon, meaning bow. Yew wood is traditionally used to make bows, because the wood is very springy. Otzi the mummified Iceman was carrying an unfinished longbow made from yew wood, and in Norse mythology, the home of the the god of the bow, Ullr, was Ydalir (Yew Dales).
2. Which brings us to why yews grow in churchyards. There is a myth that it is because villages were required to grow the trees for bow making, and to keep livestock away the villagers would grow them in the only enclosed space - the churchyard. In fact, wood for bows was imported from Europe because the wood from the British trees wasn't springy enough. Yews in churchyards probably have a lot more to do with their association with pagan worship. Many yew trees are so old that they pre-date the church! Churches were often built on the sites of pagan worship, where the yew tree would already be growing.
3. Yew trees are very long lived. The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, is said to be so old that Pontius Pilate once slept under it. It has competition now for being the oldest tree in Britain. A tree in the churchyard of a small Welsh Village called St Cynog is thought to be 5,000 years old.
4. The tree's longevity has led to it being associated with death and reincarnation in mythology. There is a romantic myth about intertwined yew trees - if two trees are intertwined they grew out of the stakes driven into the hearts of lovers whose relationship was forbidden by their community.
5. Yews are highly toxic. Cattle and Horses have been found dead after eating the leaves. It's very bad for humans, too. There is a tale of four prisoners in the 1980s who used yew to commit suicide. Three of the four died. The only part of the plant which isn't highly toxic is the flesh of the berries. That could be eaten provided the seed is completely removed first. Birds can eat yew berries, seeds and all, because their digestive systems cannot break down the seeds and they are harmlessly excreted (a fact which is very helpful to the yew tree for dispersing the seeds). Deer can eat yew without dying. They are so fond of it that wild yew trees tend to flourish only on cliffs and places where the deer cannot get to it.
6. Conversely, yew can save lives, too. Some cancer drugs are made from it. At one time people would collect the prunings of their garden yew trees to give to the pharmaceutical companies, until it was discovered that the medicinal properties actually came from a fungus growing on the tree, which could be grown artificially.
7. The Eihwaz rune is named after the yew. Its meanings in divination include death, destruction and weakness but also protection, initiation, moving towards enlightenment, spiritual growth, endurance, freedom from the fear of death, spiritual vision and communication between levels of reality.
8. Many place names are derived from the yew, including York, which is is a corruption of an Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘the place where yew grows’, and Ewhurst in Surrey. The personal name Euan means “born of yew”.
9. Yew trees can grow under the shade of other trees, but nothing can grow under them, because of the thick carpet of shed leaves and lack of light under the canopy.
10. These trees are popular with ravens, which nest in February, because they are evergreen and therefore one of the few trees that provide them with enough shelter and protection.