One yew or more?
Conclusion
Yews on mounds
A number of yews appear as a trio or more of stems emerging from
a mound of soil. Two examples are shown below. |
Yew at Llandinam, Powys © Tim Hills |
The Llandre Yew, Ceredigion © Tim
Hills |
At Mynyddislwyn in Monmouthshire the build up of soil around the
trunks is now contained within a wall. A total of 5 ancient yews
grow in this remarkable circular site 1000’ above sea level,
with a Tumulus known as Twyn Tudur (Tudor’s Mound) adjoining
the churchyard.
|
Yew at Mynyddislwyn © Tim Hills |
It is not always clear that these fragments developed at the edge
of a decaying yew. Disturbing the soil in the search for
the common origin of the tree fragments is not an option, though
a simple genetic test might be able to provide conclusive evidence.
One yew or more?
The fragmented yews at Llanerfyl and Payhembury present a conundrum.
The Llanerfyl Yew in Powys, known as the Patriarch Tree, is in
four fragments, 3 female and the 4th male. It arouses much discussion,
but appears to me that the 3 female parts once formed a single
tree that long ago split and fell and that the male is a second
tree.
Others disagree, arguing that since it is occasionally possible
to find both male and female parts on the same tree before fragmentation,
so it should also be possible to find both sexes on a tree that
has fragmented. Another argument put forward is that of a lightning
strike affecting the genetic make up of a tree. |
The Patriarch Yew, Llanerfyl © Tim
Hills |
The Payhembury Yew in Devon is recorded as having been struck
by lightning. The following is taken from "Travels in Victorian
Devon, Illustrated Journals and Sketchbooks 1846 - 1870",
compiled by Jeremy Butler from Peter Orlando Hutchinson's notebooks.
"We...examined Payhembury Church.....In the churchyard at the north-east
part there is a remarkable yew tree of great size. I thought it was four yew
trees growing close together with just space enough to walk between the trunks,
but the sexton's wife who accompanied us said that it was one tree which many
years ago had been struck by lightning and split into four portions down to
the ground." (Wednesday August 24, 1859)
In 2006 I observed these four fragments, which appeared to be of
similar age, radiating from the centre where the original tree
once stood. Yet two are male, a third is female and the fourth
was unverifiable. Girth of these fragments has been quoted in the
past as up to a massive 46ft. but at its narrowest I recorded closer
to 35ft. |
