Yew

Description

"Botanists around the world marvel at the unique characteristics of the yew, Europe’s most ancient species of tree. It is a ‘conifer’ without resin or cones but with juicy scarlet fruits that feed many birds and animals; it has foliage that is poisonous to livestock but which wild animals can eat; and though it has an extraordinarily low rate of photosynthesis, it can grow where other tree seedlings and plants just wither and die. The yew’s lower branches can root themselves, and it can also produce ‘interior roots’ inside a hollowing trunk, renewing itself from the inside out. It was in the Palaeolithic Era that humans were first struck by the yew’s regenerative powers and began to associate it with concepts of life and death, the afterlife and eternity. Yew trees can be found at the sacred sites of Native Americans and Buddhists, and Shinto shrines in Japan, as well as in Christian churchyards, where they became a symbol of the Resurrection"--Back cover.

Description

For centuries the yew has had a special significance for man through religion, folklore, medicine and warfare. In ancient times the yew played an important part in the rituals of many cultures. This everygreen tree, ingrained in pre-Christian mysteries of death and rebirth, still stands in churchyards of England as a powerful symbol of resurrection. ... [Cover].

Subjects

Other Editions

• Yew: a historySutton Publishing Ltd2007-01-01
• YewHistory Press Limited, The2011-01-01
• YewReaktion Books, Limited2013-01-01
• YewReaktion Books, Limited2013-01-01
• YewReaktion Books, Limited2023-01-01