4 October 2010

Autumn Yew


These bright red yew berries are highly toxic, or rather the little black seed inside the berry is deadly; the berry itself is quite tasty - although don't hold me responsible for any after-effects!
The seeds and needles, ground into powder, were used in pagan times by druids as ingredients for their medication and more recent times (1600's) to poison kings and husbands... Nowadays medication for chemotherapy is extracted from yew trees.

The ancient yew woods in Killarney National Park are some of the oldest in Europe, having seen generation upon generation of history unfold around them, and beneath them

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