I am going to add a bit of commentary and plant part descriptions to "flesh out" Frank's fine information about his landscape plants.
Yews (
Taxus sp.) are conifers in the family
Taxaceae, and thus DO have flowering parts - just like other conifers like Pine, Spruce, and Fir. They are just quite different from the large showy blooms that one observes on many other woody landscape plants like Dogwood, Magnolia, Crape-myrtle, Oleander, etc.
Simply put in botanical speak (from American Conifer Society website):
"The seed cones are highly modified with each cone containing a single seed measuring 0.16 to 0.28 inch (4 – 7 mm) long, partly surrounded by a modified scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril. Arils are 0.32 to 0.6 inch (8 – 15 mm) long and wide and open at the end. They mature 6 to 9 months after pollination, and with the seed contained, are eaten by thrushes, waxwings and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings. Maturation of the arils is spread over 2 to 3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal.
The pollen cones are globose, measuring 0.12 to 0.24 inch (3 – 6 mm) in diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. Yews are mostly dioecious, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time.
https://conifersociety.org/con...
Anyone that has male Yew plants in their landscapes know full well that they bloom, because the slightest touch when their globose flowers are open will release a cloud of beigey yellow pollen - which is amazing to behold. There are likely YouTube or other videos online illustrating this characteristic.
I will add that the cones of Yews look like a fleshy fruit, but that is just a different expression of a reproductive structure. The hard seeds have the toxic chemical in them, but the fleshy red arils apparently do not - but I still would not suggest testing that out personally. The leaves (needles) are also highly toxic, certainly to many/most livestock and pets and I suspect to humans as well. Deer apparently are unfazed by these chemicals, and browse Yews to the point of the plants' death in such august landscapes as the Morton Arboretum.
Gardeners should read closely many sources of information about these handsome and highly useful landscape plants, and fully understand all their value and the few pitfalls.
I was probably unsuspectedly imbued with my interest in plants by the good Lord as a young student at the Catholic grade school, where the front walks were lined with a Yew hedge of female plants. My cohorts and I took great glee in flinging ripe fruit at the young ladies and their pristine white uniforms. I suspect there are parents to this day wrestling with removing these red stains, and posters of VV haunt church halls and old post office walls ("Have You Seen This Villian???")
