Perfect Yew

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

An ideal evergreen ephedra for gardens. Not afraid of frost and wind, tolerates drought, is supportive of haircuts, tolerates the polluted air of industrial cities. The sweet fleshy part of the cone fruit is edible

Rod Tiss

About a dozen coniferous evergreen shrubs and trees are combined into a genus

Yew (Taxus).

To enjoy the very sweet pink or bright red fleshy part of the cone fruit, you need to have at least two copies of the plant, since the Yew is a dioecious creature that has settled male and female flowers in different individuals.

In male plants, flowers are spherical single spikelets. In females, they are also single, but cones, the fleshy red shell of which hides one seed inside.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, but only

the fruit, or rather, its fleshy membrane, edible and very sweet

Yew differs from other conifers by the absence of resin passages in its wood.

The yews belong to the long-livers of the planet and could tell about the events of three thousand years ago, but the Almighty did not give them the gift of speech. They grow slowly, but at the same time they are distinguished by a dense crown.

The bactericidal ability of the plant and the strength of the wood played a cruel joke with it, allowing man to almost exterminate the trees on Earth, which God originally gave a long life. A man built a dwelling from Tissa, protecting him from viruses and microbes, forgetting at the same time that it is not so easy to replenish the ranks of a slowly growing plant. It seems that man is the most short-sighted creature in the universe.

Varieties

* Yew berry or ordinary (Taxus baccata) is the most common cultivated species. The narrow flattened pointed needles of the plant form a dense crown. The needles are two-colored: the surface of the needles is dark green and glossy, and the underside is lighter. The trunk is covered with reddish bark, which peels off from the wood in longitudinal strips.

* Short-leaved yew (Taxus brevifolia) is a slow growing cold hardy shrub. Glossy dark green short needles densely cover the shoots. On the underside of the needles are gray-green.

* Yew pointed (Taxus cuspidata) or Far Eastern - compact bushes of this species have an ovoid crown. The needles are armed at the end with a black point. Pink cone fruits.

Growing

In areas with a mild climate, Yew is often adjacent to Boxwood. Both of them love to have their hair cut, taking on the appearance of animals or funny characters from fairy tales and cartoons. They also make impassable dense hedges of the desired height.

Yew is just a godsend for greening polluted industrial cities, since it resignedly breathes air in which it becomes more and more difficult for a person to breathe. It stoically withstands the onslaught of strong winds, filtering it through a dense, porous crown. He is not afraid of periods of drought. Therefore, Yew can often be found in city parks and gardens.

Yew is tolerant of any lighting, can grow in an open place in the sun, but does not mind from shady places. They are not afraid of both high temperatures and negative marks of thermometers, reaching minus 25 degrees.

Tiss does not impose strict requirements on soils, it grows even on calcareous soils. But waterlogging of the soil is not to his taste, for him drought is preferable. Therefore, you should take care of high-quality drainage. From the above it follows that special watering is not required for the plants.

Reproduction

The plant is distinguished by easy rooting of semi-lignified cuttings in a mixture of peat and sand. Cuttings are harvested in the fall, as well as sowing seeds, with long-term patience.

Can be propagated by layering.

Enemies

Being a bactericidal and poisonous plant, Yew is excellent at dealing with enemies on its own.

The rainbow picture can only be spoiled by heavy and moist soils that provoke root rot. In this case, the bushes are removed, since it will no longer be possible to save the plant.