#yew

The Dragon Hunter

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 24 December 2025

Providing growing sculptures in the border Taxus baccata (yew) responds well to pruning into topiary shapes. This conifer has the ability to produce epicormic shoots from dormant buds located on the branches or trunk making it ideal for pruning into shapes or rejuvenation if it needs reducing in size.

A bit late for Halloween but Prof Yew has some fun facts about the Litwick line!

These spooky little guys are far more at home in modern cities than out in the woods, so many of their urban legends are just that, legends.

Litwicks play an important role in a lot of urban ecosystems and are basically fiery-pigeons at this point. Sometimes they are pest, sometimes they are beloved pets. It depends on the people they interact with.

Types of trees and wood for wands and their associations:

Alder: Weather, necromancy, courage, passion

Almond: Wisdom, prosperity, love, healing

Ash: Protection, healing, prosperity

Birch: Intuition, creativity, love, healing, protection

Driftwood: Protection, energy, moon magick

Elder: Healing, protection, banishment

Hazel: Truth, divination, wisdom, luck

Hawthorne: Protection, dragons, fae

Holly: Purity, sun, strength, protection, luck

Oak: Protection, fertility, strength, luck, health

Pine: Healing, fertility, protection, exorcism, money

Poplar: The crone, astral projection, divination, rebirth

Redwood: "King of trees", strength, protection, creativity, enlightenment

Rowan: Defense, creation, travel, healing, divination

Willow: Healing, protection, spirit work

Yew (Taxus Baccata) 1776 by Mary Delany.

Collage of coloured papers, bodycolour and watercolour, with leaf sample on black ink background.

© The Trustees of the British Museum.