TAXUS baccata

'Common yew'. A small to medium-sized tree or large shrub with dark, almost black-green leaves, to 3cm long. Fruits with a red aril. A well-known tree, a common and familiar resident of churchyards where specimens of great age are occasionally found. The low, prostrate forms make wonderful groundcover plants, even in dense shade. The yew has given rise to numerous forms varying in habit and colour. Given good drainage the yew will grow on almost pure chalk or in very acid soils.