Richard Williamson's weekly nature notes
In autumn they all knew where the female yew trees grew-usually in the churchyard- from which children could help themselves and they knew about the deadly poisonous pip in the middle to avoid- see end paragraph.
Female yews normally produced tens of thousands of red, sticky arils. Actually they are a kind of ancient fir cones. They look like tiny Chinese lanterns.
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Hide AdThey are sugary sweet, bright red, juicy to the point of melting in the mouth, and very plesant once you have got used to them. I have eaten hundeds in my 40 years or more in Sussex.
For full feature see West Sussex Gazette, November 15.