26 January 2022

Yews thousands of years old in Britain


The embedded image is a screencap from a brief video at the BBC.
Trees believed to pre-date the pyramids are in danger of being lost forever unless they are given special legal protections, campaigners have said.

The UK is home to the world's largest collection of ancient yew trees, with some estimated by researchers to be as old as 5,000 years old, such as Powys' Defynnog Yew.
I had no idea yews could reach ages similar to that of giant sequoias.  You learn something every day.

6 comments:

  1. Bristlecone pines are holding on line one.

    https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5129900

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  2. Close to home ... Heiken, D. (1992). The Pacific Yew and Taxol: Federal management of an emerging resource. Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation 7: 175.

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    Replies
    1. Couldn't find it, but it's cited here -

      https://www.bionity.com/en/encyclopedia/Taxus_brevifolia.html

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  3. 11,700 years - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Clone

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  4. I visited the King Clone a month ago, when visiting Joshua Tree National Park. It was a great treasure hunt, using a Google Earth satellite image to zero in on it. The clone cluster itself was underwhelming to my husband because it is physically subtle. But it was an aweinspiring experience to me. I wish I could post a photo.

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  5. These people are right. These trees should have better protection than Stonehenge.

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