European Yew

The European Yew is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree native to western, central, and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia. It is renowned for its longevity, dense dark green foliage, and distinctive fleshy red arils that enclose its toxic seeds. Historically valued for making longbows, it is a popular ornamental plant in formal gardens and churchyards, often enduring for many centuries. Every part of the plant except the fleshy red aril is extremely toxic to humans and animals due to the presence of taxine alkaloids.