Post Four

There are many yew trees here. These poisonous conifer trees may be male or female. In spring both have small flowers, but but only the female trees have red fruit, which appear in the autumn. Do not eat the berries - the seeds are poisonous.

The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol) is now synthesised from the leaves of the yew tree.
Yew wood is very flexible and was used to make longbows, including those used at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Listen for goldcrests hunting for spiders and small insects amongst the yew.