The Yew Tree The Tree Of Death Rebirth Deadly Toxic Facts History Folklore

Good morning beautiful people. Today we are going to celebrate everything to do with the sacred magnificent yew tree. The yew tree also known as the tree of death and the tree of doom can also be associated with immortality and resurrection. So come with me and we'll learn everything from how to identify the yew tree to how deadly poisonous it is and we'll also go through the history and folklore too. So why has the yew tree been labeled the tree of death? Well firstly a scientific name is Taxus Beccata but the reason it's labeled the tree of death and doom is because of how deadly toxic poisonous it is. This tree is almost 100% toxic. The bark is toxic, the leaves, the seeds, even the roots are toxic and they're not just slightly toxic they're deadly poisonous. It takes just 50 of the yew tree's needle-like leaves. Just 50 will kill you dead and you won't just die in a few days it will kill you quickly. If you accidentally consume some of the yew tree you'll become dry mouthed or dizzy you'll feel sick and then you'll just drop dead because the poison the chemical in this tree is called taxine and taxine paralyzes your heart basically it just stops your heart dead. But there's a weird and wonderful twist to the yew tree you see even though the tree is so deadly poisonous the flesh of the berries are edible but the catch is the seed inside still contains that deadly taxine and it takes just two seeds to kill a horse. It's almost like the yew tree is daring us to tempt fate by trying some of its red sweet berries. Now there's a few more things you should know to avoid being poisoned by the yew tree. Firstly if you see an edible mushroom growing on a yew tree that's no longer edible because it would have drawn out some of the toxins into that fungi and also you should never use a yew tree in your fireplace or you should never cook your food on yew wood fire because you could potentially poison yourself or the food with the smoke. So it's not all death doom and gloom to be associated with the that's actually it's quite a fitting label considering it can it can poison us but actually as well as take our lives the yew tree can actually give our life back to us too because the deadly yew tree is actually used to create two chemotherapy drugs. I can't remember both their names one's called taxol believe and one's called something else I'll put it on the screen but this amazing tree is actually used in chemotherapy medicine and it's not a herbal alternative medicine this medicine is actually listed on the world health organization's list of essential medicines for the treatment of cancer. It's incredible to think that this plant that can so easily kill you can actually heal you and give your life back there's an unknown amount of knowledge a wealth of knowledge locked within plants and trees. I generally believe that for every illness that exists on earth somewhere in the world exists a plant that holds the cure so it's really important that we're able to recognize the yew tree and identify it and it's also really important that we pass this knowledge on to our children too. So we're going to start the bark of the yew tree the bark of the yew tree is quite unique you'll find it's it's a reddish brown and it tends to be kind of flaky and peely and if you look closely you can find patches of red. Now I'm going to show up pictures more pictures of the bark of the yew tree on the screen now so you can get a really good idea of what the yew tree's bark looks like when it's dry younger and older. Then you have the needle-like leaves of the yew tree and as you can see they grow in rows of two and they're flat and they're dark glossy green and they're a lighter green underneath and if you look really closely at the pointed tippities leaves they're a yellowy brown and then you have the bright red berries. These red berries the flesh is edible but the seed inside is toxic so I would not recommend to even bother with these berries. The berries to identify them is simple because they don't actually completely enclose the seed it's like a red cup with an avocado seed in the middle. Now trees are some of the longest living life forms on planet earth and the yew tree is an amazing example of this because these magnificent trees they don't just live for hundreds of years they live for thousands of years. The oldest yew tree in the UK is estimated to be 5,000 years old. To put that into perspective that's 3,000 years before Jesus Christ. Imagine how long ago the bible was written and then imagine 3,000 years before that. Mind blown. Now the yew tree can grow from 20 foot tall all the way up to 80 feet tall and it's evergreen that means it keeps its needle-like leaves all year long because the yew tree is a strong enduring tree. It's one of the rare species of tree that can actually grow in the shade of other trees where normally most trees would just die. It's also dioecious. Dioecious means that you get male and female trees and it's super easy to tell which ones are male and female because just like the holly tree it's only the female that grows the red berries. Now there's a reason the yew tree is also associated with immortality and that's because its branches possess an incredible ability. The yew tree's branches can go down and into the earth and there they reroot growing back up as new tree trunks. Effectively the tree's replanting itself and you might find a yew tree that's got several trunks all intertwined and this is a way the yew tree regenerates itself and allows itself to live for such a long time. Now you might have noticed that some of the ancient yews start to become hollow inside creating this almost magical little room within the tree. Now that's nothing to worry about that's actually a natural process that helps the tree live for so long because the center of the tree becomes deadwood and gets eroded by fungi which ultimately falls onto the ground and the tree reabsorbs all the minerals that it's stored all them years and recycles them helping itself live a healthy and stronger life. Just like all trees the yew tree is incredibly important and valuable to wildlife. This tree is so dense that birds love to make it their home especially the goldcrest and the firecrest and if you've ever seen them birds they're amazing. The firecrest has a red mohawk and the goldcrest has a gold mohawk. They're probably my favorite birds they're kind of the punk rockers of the sky. Now it's time for my favorite part of the video the history mythology and folklore of the incredible yew tree. Firstly folklore says if you fall asleep under a yew tree fairies will come along and steal your soul so don't fall asleep under a yew tree just in case. Secondly the most frequently asked question is why are there always yew trees in graveyards? That's a good question because you'll find most of the ancient yew trees in graveyards and many people believe that's because they planted them in an attempt to stop livestock from grazing the graveyards and damaging the graves but that's not actually true. What really is the case is that you go way back before Christianity to the pagans and the druids and they they knew the special abilities of the yew they understood how the branches grew along down and into the ground growing a new tree trunk resurrecting itself so they worshipped a yew tree they treated it as a very sacred tree and then early Christians came along and noticed that these places where the yew trees were people were already gathering to worship and to do spiritual things so they thought this is a good spot to build my church. Ultimately that caused the mixing of paganism and Christianity that we know today. Now other people believe that the reason that you'll find yew trees in graveyards is because the roots supposedly grow down and into the eye sockets of the dead and that holds the dead in the ground and stops them from rising up and killing us all. The Romans believed that you'd only find yew trees near the entrance of hell. In Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth the murderous king used slips of yew in his deadly poisons and the famous Robert the Bruce ordered for his longbows to be made of yew wood because historically it's an incredibly good wood for making weapons. Well that's it my friends I hope you've enjoyed celebrating the magnificent sacred yew tree with me. As always it's been a pleasure. All of you look after yourselves and I'll leave you with this proverb I read just this morning. The tree with the strongest roots laughs at the biggest storms. I'll see you again next time. Peace.