How to positively ID Yew?

[bushcraftboy]

I'm still a beginner amd I know many trees, like birch, Oak, hazel, hawthorn, pine, ash, sloe tree, cherry plum, crab apple, well anyway alot more, but I can nevery identify:

Spruce, Yew, Cedar and alot of other conifers, can anyone help me?

Especially how to ID Yew.

[Martin]

Best thing to do is to buy a book of trees and get out there and practise using it. There's no substitute for actually doing it but, if you want a clue, you will find Yew in many church yards.

Martin

[Bushwhacker]

You can't really mistake it for much else.

[bushcraftboy]

Best thing to do is to buy a book of trees and get out there and practise using it. There's no substitute for actually doing it but, if you want a clue, you will find Yew in many church yards.

Martin

I know that :)

Hmm, I gt mixed with spruc the most..

[Martin]

I know that :)

Hmm, I gt mixed with spruc the most..

How can you get mixed with spruce? It must be the most recognisable conifer in the forest. :confused:

I think you need to get a book or do a Google image search, it's not difficult and will help you a lot.

Martin

[bushcraftboy]

How can you get mixed with spruce? It must be the most recognisable conifer in the forest. :confused:

I think you need to get a book or do a Google image search, it's not difficult and will help you a lot.

Martin

Pictures on the in the net look all the same, I can say that Yew seems more densely packed and prickly.

[Silverback]

You could ask it. "Is that yew ?" <gets coat>

Agree with Martin, buy or borrow a book and get boots on the ground

[bushcraftboy]

Well the closest woods to me is Troserch, and it's a very long walk, but I'll be up there soon...

It's mainly conifer woods, and some birch.

[Woodwose]

Yew will be covered in red berries (Arils) at this time of year ,,,, MMhh this has got me thinking. The yew being a conifer are the berries still classed as cones . :confused:
Spruce will have cones.

[bigzee]

A chinese buffet restaurant in Lincoln has a lovely great woodcarving in the doorway, shaped to represent a senior asian gentleman sitting cross-legged. He has his robe open to expose his large round belly and a wise smirk on his face. Impressed by the quality of workmanship, and the natural beauty of the woodgrain, muggins here turns to his wife and remarks: "what a lovely bit of wood" and pointing at it says "It looks like yew"......It was a few seconds after seeing the look on her face before I realized what she thought I was suggesting. Dohh!

[Realearner]

Well you are well ahead of me with idents, and I have a couple of little gem books on trees mushrooms insects, and wild food. Plus I always look out in charity shops.
I now take at least two out with me every time and try and find and ident stuff.
Check one of the other threads on here.

[bushcraftboy]

I don't have any books at all, but soon I'm buying Ray Mears Survival season 1 & 2, and alot of collins books and also Ray Mears' books.

[GaryBeaner]

"It looks like yew"......It was a few seconds after seeing the look on her face before I realized what she thought I was suggesting. Dohh!
LMAO...Yew just made my Friday night so much brighter!!!!

[Adam Savage]

Yew will be covered in red berries (Arils) at this time of year ,,,, MMhh this has got me thinking. The yew being a conifer are the berries still classed as cones . :confused:
Spruce will have cones.

A lot of trees ave red berries though, so maybe not the best way to identify it, for a novice. :p


LMAO...Yew just made my Friday night so much brighter!!!!

Likewise, absolutely classic :D



Yew berries...

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/medicinal_plants/images/e_yew_berry.jpg

Yew needles...

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/medicinal_plants/images/e_yew_needles.jpg

Old Yew trees, often have a trunk made of several smaller trunks (or fat stems ;)). This is an exaggerated example...

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/36/03/2360329_7e823f13.jpg

[bushcraftboy]

Thanks for the help, I want out with my friend today and I saw a Yew in a church yard (little did I know there was a wedding) , I walked up to see it, I can easily pick it out now. To me, it sorta looks like gorse, there were many red berries, they are also edible, but becaus ethe tree itself it deadly, I'd stay away.

I can ID spruce, pine, fir, and many confiers now.

There is one tree I can never ID, it is always used in gardens, my fathers friend said to me it's fir, but it's got flatter needles. I think it's leylandii fir?

[Woodwose]

[QUOTE=crazysaint222;26375]A lot of trees ave red berries though, so maybe not the best way to identify it, for a novice. :p ]

Errrmmm, it's the only UK conifer that I know of that has red berries. If you're getting a conifer mixed up with a broadleaf or evergreen with red berries such as holly for instance then well,,, I can't help you much. :D

[Adam Savage]

Errrmmm, it's the only UK conifer that I know of that has red berries. If you're getting a conifer mixed up with a broadleaf or evergreen with red berries such as holly for instance then well,,, I can't help you much. :D

Ah yes. It is the only conifer with red berries, you're quite right. but holly often grows in amongst conifers and other trees, giving the illusion of red berries on the wrong tree....(did i manage to save myself there? :p)

[bushcraftboy]

Ah yes. It is the only conifer with red berries, you're quite right. but holly often grows in amongst conifers and other trees, giving the illusion of red berries on the wrong tree....(did i manage to save myself there? :p)

Hmm, but holly is a berry, not an aril, the Yew's aril is wrapped around a poisonous nut. And holly is very pricky, you can't really mistake it.

[Adam Savage]

Hmm, but holly is a berry, not an aril, the Yew's aril is wrapped around a poisonous nut. And holly is very pricky, you can't really mistake it.

This is also very true my friend, but the aril looks like a berry from a distance, even from ground level to mid branches. Holly can grow so intertwined with some trees, that it is very difficult to distinguish the leaves, again for higher branches. If that makes sense. It's not common, but it does happen, especially in ancient, mossy woodland. I'll try and find an example when I'm down Devon tomorrow. :)

[jus_young]

This is also very true my friend, but the aril looks like a berry from a distance, even from ground level to mid branches. Holly can grow so intertwined with some trees, that it is very difficult to distinguish the leaves, again for higher branches. If that makes sense. It's not common, but it does happen, especially in ancient, mossy woodland. I'll try and find an example when I'm down Devon tomorrow. :)

Yew paying a visit to our neck of the woods again? Yew wood be better off moving here at this rate :)

[Adam Savage]

lol, I have thought about it.

[GwersyllaCnau]

Just purchased an android app for 59p looks really good so far.

https://market.android.com/details?id=app.fmst.treesuk&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImFwcC5mb XN0LnRyZWVzdWsiXQ..

[Adam Savage]

Looks like a useful app mate.

In reply to trying to find an example on the moors, I have failed this time. We didn't go near the site I was intending to visit. I will keep my eyes open for such an example, but seeing how few and far between they are, it's not really worth taking into consideration for identification purposes, especially with an inedible plant/tree.
All in all then, your advice is/was spot on, and my input was pretty much worthless lol.

Adam