Fortingall Yew

Taxus baccata · Perth, Perthshire, Scotland · NN 742 470

The Fortingall Yew is the most famous tree in Britain. Its hollow bole has split into separate living walls, fenced since the 18th century against souvenir-hunters. Tradition — unprovable and irresistible — says Pontius Pilate was born in its shade. In 2015 a spray of red arils appeared on a male tree, a reminder that yews can change sex.

Ages of 5,000 years and beyond are widely quoted but cannot be ring-counted; the hollow centre is gone. Conservative dendrologists prefer 2,000–3,000. Either figure still predates the parish kirk by more than a millennium.