There we go, I'm glad I got your attention. Hicks Yew trees, Yew varieties of all types, are lovely evergreens which pop up with cute red "berries" every year in the fall. The plant, although used as a very common landscape statement, is actually one of the most deadly plants in that (nearly) every part of the plant contains high amounts of cardiotoxic taxine alkaloids. If you didn't understand that, basically if you eat any part of the plant except for what I tell you in the following paragraph you will die of heart failure extremely quickly. I know of no antidote. So just don't experiment with it. Don't try it. I don't want you to die.
Okay, now on to the fun part.
The part you can eat are the little red "berries" that grow in the fall. The berries are actually called arils, and they are very fleshy with a single seed in each. Much like a cherry, it is not safe to eat the "pit" of this fruit. Just two will kill a horse, and although humans are not as susceptible as horses to the toxins in the seeds, it is better safe than sorry. So always spit out the seeds. This is probably a good time to note that this is not a good plant to have with children around who would not consistently spit the seeds.
The flesh of the aril is very sticky and has a mild sweetness to it. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked into a jelly. When eating, be sure to not chomp on the seed as that will release some of the toxins. That won't be enough to hurt an adult so long as you spit it out right away and rinse your mouth (or rather shouldn't be enough), but if you accidentally get a taste of the seed it is best to avoid eating them for a couple days to make sure you keep very limited amounts of toxins in your body at any given time. The same concept applies to when cooking into a jelly. Do not crush the arils with anything hard enough to also crush the seeds.
Why is all of this work and carefulness worth the effort? The arils have a very unique sweetness and sticky texture that, although not for everyone, can be very pleasing. The fruit is filled with nutrients, and some even call it a super food. And frankly, the little arils are so plentiful, they are an extremely easy fruit to eat right off the branch. And if you are eating with your friends your can have a seed spitting contest. :)
I have eaten these berries. You might be someone who would be interested in our project. My son Robert Kaiser is starting the Price Institute for Organic Medicine in Price Utah. The url is Priceinstituteoforganicmedicine.com. He is looking for people who have an interest in developing medicines> I don't know how this fits into Physics, but you might.
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