In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:

Although yew is exceptionally toxic to humans which might be a
consideration. OK there's lots of plants you don't go eating, but yew is
quite a bad boy in that respect.

No, Hamlet is NOT a manual of toxicity, and that is complete and utter
hogwash. It's no more toxic than laburnum, monkshood and many other
garden plants, and less likely to be eaten than most. Human deaths
from it are essentially unknown, except for (rare) suicides. A quick
Web search found:

I resent that. I haven't even read Hamlet...

Well, you should.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata#Toxicity

I give you human deaths are indeed rare, but it is most certainly toxic,
except the berry flesh.

So what? Yew is NOT "exceptionally toxic", neither is it an
"quite a bad boy in that respect". Essentially the only reason
there have been ANY human deaths is because people believe that
twaddle, and use it as a poison of choice for suicide. Yew is
perfectly safe as a hedge, and not particularly dangerous if
allowed to fruit.

There are dozens of common plants that are at least as toxic as
yew, several that are much more toxic (I mentioned one), several
that are vegetables, and several that regularly cause accidental
human fatalities. Yet yew is singled out for demonisation. It's
total ********.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.