 |
The yew tree played an important role in the formation of human culture and consciousness. It provided wood for shelter, tools and weapons, foliage and bark for every medicine bag. Its greatest influence on culture, however, was its myriad spiritual associations with the goddess, the grave, afterlife and immortality. Although the yew tree was revered in nearly every culture of the northern temperate zones, yew trees were destroyed for their utility. Gone from Greece and Rome by the time of Christ, gone from Europe by the 17th century. Today, the remnants are threatened throughout the world because yew bark and foliage provide taxol, the most promising new anti-cancer drug in 30 years. The tree has a reputation for living longer than almost any other species, which will grow in the United Kingdom; many are well over 1000 years old. There is an old yew at Fortingall in Glen Lyon, Scotland, which might be 2000 years old. From measurements that have been taken in the UK the yew grows, on average, about a foot in girth for every thirty years. This will vary quite significantly according to the fertility of the soil but is nevertheless a general guide. Thus a tree of 25 ft. girth might be 7-800 years old. They grow exceedingly slowly and are never planted as commercial trees. Individual trees will grow up to about 20m (88 ft) tall.
|
|
