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How do fleshy yew structures help disperse yew seeds?
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Conifer
A giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) estimated to be between 1,900 and 2,400 years old, Grizzly Giant is the oldest tree in the Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California.
As a yew seed matures, it is enveloped by a fleshy, red, cup-shaped structure known as an aril. This brightly colored and fleshy aril serves to attract birds, such as thrushes, which consume the structure.1234
The aril is the only part of the yew that does not contain poisonous alkaloids. When birds swallow the seed whole, they digest the fleshy aril and subsequently pass the seed intact in their droppings, effectively dispersing the plant to new locations.14