We have a Bay tree that has grown in a bit of a tangle with a Yew
tree. We often use bay leaf for flavouring. There is no possibility of
us confusing the leaves but today we were told that the Bay could be
poisonous because it is so close to the Yew.

I don't think that is likely but I must ask the experts in this group.
Could a Bay pick up poison from a Yew?

Steve

"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
We have a Bay tree that has grown in a bit of a tangle with a Yew
tree. We often use bay leaf for flavouring. There is no possibility of
us confusing the leaves but today we were told that the Bay could be
poisonous because it is so close to the Yew.

I don't think that is likely but I must ask the experts in this group.
Could a Bay pick up poison from a Yew?

I don't see how it could, but don't rely on my opinion. I would not want to
be responsible if you used a bay leaf and it killed you;_)
Tina

On Fri, 20 Aug 2010, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

We have a Bay tree that has grown in a bit of a tangle with a Yew
tree. We often use bay leaf for flavouring. There is no possibility of
us confusing the leaves but today we were told that the Bay could be
poisonous because it is so close to the Yew.

I don't think that is likely but I must ask the experts in this group.
Could a Bay pick up poison from a Yew?

No. It's not like picking up a poisonous substance from the soil. I have
raspberries growing underneath a yew tree and have never had any
ill-effects from the raspberries!

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

Absolute rubbish! The toxins within Yew foliage and seeds cannot and
do not translocate and become integral with Bay.

David Rance wrote:
On Fri, 20 Aug 2010, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

We have a Bay tree that has grown in a bit of a tangle with a Yew
tree. We often use bay leaf for flavouring. There is no possibility
of us confusing the leaves but today we were told that the Bay could
be poisonous because it is so close to the Yew.

I don't think that is likely but I must ask the experts in this
group. Could a Bay pick up poison from a Yew?

No. It's not like picking up a poisonous substance from the soil. I
have raspberries growing underneath a yew tree and have never had any
ill-effects from the raspberries!

People do say the daftest things. After all, some plants have parts
which are poisonous and parts which are edible: potatoes, for example.
Actually, for that matter, even yew varies in toxicity from part to
part: the coloured calyx is very sweet, and won't do you any harm in
small quantities (don't tell children: they'e more susceptible, of
course, and could easily swallow or bite the green seed because the
flesh is so slippery).

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
[...]
Actually, for that matter, even yew varies in toxicity from part to
part: the coloured calyx is very sweet, and won't do you any harm in
small quantities (don't tell children: they'e more susceptible, of
course, and could easily swallow or bite the green seed because the
flesh is so slippery).

Ack!!! Me and my big keyboard! Of course, to be quite clear, the SEEDS
of the yew tree ARE poisonous. It's only the pink, or occasionally
yellow, fleshy bit that has quite a low concentration of the nasty
stuff.

Sorry I wasn't specific.

--
Mike.

I don't know Steve, we had a cow that ate a little yew...it died....then a fox ate the cows eyeball....and it also died...I don't know how far down the foodchain it went on for as I wasn't paying attention after that...lol!!

Just plan a few other clipped bay trees. I have one in the shade and one in the sun. One is sweeter one is more bitter. Totally different flavours from the same clones!

I'm glad everyone thinks the same as me and there is not much chance
that poisons from the Yew can transfer to the Bay. The person who
suggested that it is possible describes the path as via moisture in
the soil and some types of Bay are toxic anyway!

Steve

In article ,
Sambo wrote:

I don't know Steve, we had a cow that ate a little yew...it died....then
a fox ate the cows eyeball....and it also died...I don't know how far
down the foodchain it went on for as I wasn't paying attention after
that...lol!!

All living creatures die, eventually. No, yew is not that poisonous,
despite the tales of Shakespeare and old wives.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

They have probably got confused by the fact that bay is in the same genus as cherry laurel. You could start talking to them about potatoes and deadly nightshade. Or (not quite so closely related) carrot and hemlock, peas and laburnum ... with a little research you could persuade them to restrict themselves to an extremely limited diet :-)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:12:19 +0000, kay
wrote:


Stephen Wolstenholme;898014 Wrote:
I'm glad everyone thinks the same as me and there is not much chance
that poisons from the Yew can transfer to the Bay. The person who
suggested that it is possible describes the path as via moisture in
the soil and some types of Bay are toxic anyway!

Steve

They have probably got confused by the fact that bay is in the same
genus as cherry laurel. You could start talking to them about potatoes
and deadly nightshade. Or (not quite so closely related) carrot and
hemlock, peas and laburnum ... with a little research you could
persuade them to restrict themselves to an extremely limited diet :-)

"They" don't exist. The whole argument started between just two of us.
Steve

English does not have a neuter pronoun. I was using "they" in the common colloquial usage to avoid having to either make a gender assumption, use the cumbersome "he/she" or the twee "s/he". I will endeavour to be far more precise in my use of language should I ever be moved in the future to respond to a thread to which you have contributed.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Sambo wrote:

I don't know Steve, we had a cow that ate a little yew...it
died....then a fox ate the cows eyeball....and it also died...I
don't know how far down the foodchain it went on for as I wasn't
paying attention after that...lol!!

All living creatures die, eventually. No, yew is not that poisonous,
despite the tales of Shakespeare and old wives.

The cow's-eye bit I have filed under "Well, I wouldn't have believed it
if I hadn't read it in the Daily Mail." But I wouldn't mess with the
stuff.

--
Mike.

Well while you two debate the finer points of english vocabularly with your heads up your a**es, I just like to say that if it was in the UK then I would plant another Bay, just because, given my experience the one under the yew tree would be covered in pigeon doo doos and that is going to full of samonella.

On Aug 20, 5:03*pm, Stephen Wolstenholme
wrote:
We have a Bay tree that has grown in a bit of a tangle with a Yew
tree. We often use bay leaf for flavouring. There is no possibility of
us confusing the leaves but today we were told that the Bay could be
poisonous because it is so close to the Yew.

I don't think that is likely but I must ask the experts in this group.
Could a Bay pick up poison from a Yew?

Steve

don't eat plants. Just eat meat
Not much meat is poisonous