A comprehensive and richly illustrated history, Yew will appeal to
botanists and other readers interested in the history and symbolism of
the natural world, now in paperback.
The yew is the oldest and most common tree in the world, but it is a
plant of puzzling contradictions: it is a conifer with juicy scarlet
berries, but no cones; deer can feast on its poisonous foliage, but it
is lethal to farm animals, and it thrives where other plants cannot
because of its extraordinarily low rate of photosynthesis. Exploring
this paradoxical plant in Yew, Fred Hageneder surveys its position in
religious and cultural history, its role in the creation of the British
Empire, and its place in modern medicine. Hageneder explains the way the
yew is able to renew itself from the inside by producing interior roots
and how early humans, fascinated with its regenerative powers, began to
associate the tree with concepts of life and death, the afterlife, and
eternity. As such, it can be found at the sacred sites of Native
Americans, Buddhists, and Shinto shrines in Japan, and it has become a
living symbol of the resurrection for the Christian faith. He describes
how churchyards saved many yews during the Middle Ages when the trees
were used for the mass production of the longbow, which laid the
foundation for the British Empire. Finally, he discusses the latest
scientific discoveries about the yew, including its use in cancer
treatments.
