[NatureNS] yew bush with "berries"

Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:43:15 -0300
From: Joan Czapalay <joancz@ns.sympatico.ca>
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To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Cc: Burkhard Plache <burkhardplache@gmail.com>
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Hi Burkhard and all, The path to the west side of Bon Portage Island was 
lined with tall thick Canadian Yew ( Taxus canadensis) when I started 
going to the island in the 1980's. It was unusual then to see a deer on 
the island. Now deer are quite plentiful at times, and there are no 
longer any Yew to be found. We observed that the bushes were browsed by 
the deer, and presumed they were immune to the toxin, as are the hares 
to the Amanita mushrooms.
Cheers, Joan



On 10/20/2010 3:13 PM, Burkhard Plache wrote:
> As far as I know:
>
> For humans, the red part of the 'berry' is the only non poisonous
> part of yew, regardless of species.
> Ornarmentals are often Taxus cuspidata (Japanese yew).
>
> It is possible to make a jelly from the red seed (not cone) coat,
> but the difficult part is making sure to properly separate the seed.
> I would not experiment myself.
>
> Even working on yew wood (sanding) can be problematic.
> 100 grams of foliage may suffice to kill you.
> If you survive, permanent damage to inner organs (esp. liver) is likely.
>
> Various deer species browse yew without problem,
> cattle are somewhat and horses very negatively affected when digesting yew.
>
> Sadly, native yew is hard to find, some people claim due to browsing by deer.
> I am wondering if yew was more plentiful before white tailed deer arrived.
>
> - Burkhard
>

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