# A plant that never dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098 "2008-04-05T17:37:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/1 "2008-04-05T17:37:16Z")
Cecil has commented on the longevity of trees: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_042.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_042.html) I know of at least one plant that never dies, unless destroyed by fire or willfully extirpated: yew. And it deserves its name. In Bavaria it is called _ewig_ which means eternal, and whence its English name and many German and English dialectal variants. Yew creeps on the ground and on trees and may cover several acres. No, _you_ don’t creep on the ground. Yew does. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/2 "2008-04-06T01:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] In Bavaria it is called _ewig_ which means eternal, and whence its English name and many German and English dialectal variants. [/QUOTE] Not according to any source I can find; the standard German word is _Eibe_, and was probably originally a Celtic loan-word. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/3 "2008-04-06T03:02:44Z")
[Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=yew&searchmode=none) > [@](#): > > yew > O.E. iw, eow “yew,” from P.Gmc. \*iwa-/\*iwo- (cf. M.Du. iwe, Du. ijf, O.H.G. iwa, Ger. Eibe, O.N. yr), from PIE \*ei-wo- (cf. O.Ir. eo, Welsh ywen “yew”), perhaps a suffixed form of \*ei- “reddish, motley, yellow.” OED says Fr. if, Sp. iva, M.L. ivus are from Gmc. (and says Du. ijf is from Fr.); others posit a Gaul. ivos as the source of these. Lith. jeva likewise is said to be from Gmc. It symbolizes both death and immortality, being poisonous as well as long-lived. Yew might symbolize immortality, but that’s not its derivation. ---
**Author:** ![runninblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@runninblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runninblue)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/4 "2008-04-06T04:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] Cecil has commented on the longevity of trees: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_042.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_042.html) I know of at least one plant that never dies, unless destroyed by fire or willfully extirpated: yew. And it deserves its name. In Bavaria it is called _ewig_ which means eternal, and whence its English name and many German and English dialectal variants. Yew creeps on the ground and on trees and may cover several acres. No, _you_ don’t creep on the ground. Yew does. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Are you talking about the genus _Taxus_? Because I’ve never seen a _Taxus_ “creep on the ground and on trees” ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/5 "2008-04-06T05:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] Not according to any source I can find; the standard German word is _Eibe_, and was probably originally a Celtic loan-word. [/QUOTE] Expano’s quote seems to let in the possibility of a germanic origin (which it omits to name, possibly because it’s uncertain). And the OP didn’t say German, he said Bavarian. Not that I care. It’s does seem a bit of a stretch to accept any traditional etymology as more than well, tradition. But traditions are interesting in their own right, and should not be forgetten entirely in favor of the rather abbreviated lore of reference works. It also seems a little stilted to argue as if there’s only one German language, or one germanic word for yew, or anything of that sort. I recall hearing somewhere that there are many traditional languages within Germany. Also that germanic languages in general, though mostly Indo-European, harbor a large vestige of other, still mysterious origins. I wasn’t aware that yew trees were particularly long-lived, although I do recall reading that they are particularly slow-growing–back when the discovery of their medicinal properties raised the supply question. I recently read yew is the hardest softwood, and I recall it has an intrinsically “laminated” cross-section which is what makes it particularly well-suited for longbows. Sounds like an interesting tree. I’ll have to look it up sometime. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/6 "2008-04-06T07:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=runninblue] Are you talking about the genus _Taxus_? Because I’ve never seen a _Taxus_ “creep on the ground and on trees” [/QUOTE] I slipped. I’m creeping on the ground out of embarrassement. :o I meant IVY, _Hedera helix_. The standard German name is _Efeu_ and one of the dialectal variant is \*ewig \* in Bavaria. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/7 "2008-04-06T13:49:53Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Expano’s quote seems to let in the possibility of a germanic origin (which it omits to name, possibly because it’s uncertain). And the OP didn’t say German, he said Bavarian. [/QUOTE] Apparently they don’t speak English in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/8 "2008-04-06T15:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] Apparently they don’t speak English in Texas. [/QUOTE] It’s not clear to me where I erred in reading the quote. Perhaps I’m having trouble with the abbreviations. I have heard natives around here speaking German, but most of us seem to speak a sort of Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/9 "2008-04-06T16:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Expano’s quote seems to let in the possibility of a germanic origin (which it omits to name, possibly because it’s uncertain). [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > It’s not clear to me where I erred in reading the quote. Perhaps I’m having trouble with the abbreviations. You think? > [@](#): > > O.E. iw, eow “yew,” from P.Gmc. \*iwa-/\*iwo- (cf. M.Du. iwe, Du. ijf, O.H.G. iwa, Ger. Eibe, O.N. yr), from PIE \*ei-wo- (cf. O.Ir. eo, Welsh ywen “yew”), perhaps a suffixed form of \*ei- “reddish, motley, yellow.” O.E. Old English P.Gmc. Proto-Germanic M.Du. Middle Dutch Du. Dutch O.H.G. Old High German Ger. German O.N. Old Norse PIE Proto-Indo-European O.Ir. Old Irish ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/10 "2008-04-06T17:13:16Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] You think? [/QUOTE] Yeah, but I think the part that threw me off was “OED says Fr. if, Sp. iva, M.L. ivus are from Gmc.” That’s just a little hard to follow late at night. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/11 "2008-04-06T18:14:34Z")
Cecils’s article doesn’t mention how long ivy, or any other plant or tree can live if you take a sapling and let it root again. One could debate if such a sapling would be a clone or the same individual, though. In my experience, Common ivy (Hedera helix, its Dutch name, Klimop, doesn’t mean “forever”, just “climb-up”) lives as long as the tree it climbed. Once that one falls down (and Ivy weakens it somewhat, due to the weight and the light it takes away) the the ivy is generally torn from its roots and dies, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/12 "2008-04-06T19:19:25Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Cecils’s article doesn’t mention how long ivy, or any other plant or tree can live if you take a sapling and let it root again. One could debate if such a sapling would be a clone or the same individual, though. In my experience, Common ivy (Hedera helix, its Dutch name, Klimop, doesn’t mean “forever”, just “climb-up”) lives as long as the tree it climbed. Once that one falls down (and Ivy weakens it somewhat, due to the weight and the light it takes away) the the ivy is generally torn from its roots and dies, too. [/QUOTE] Ivy climbs on trees or whatever is available: stones, rocs, poles. Otherwise it crawls on the ground. I know of places where it covers a least two acres (half ha). And it’s no clone. It just grows no end. My experience is that of a botanist. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/13 "2008-04-06T19:39:51Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Cecils’s article doesn’t mention how long ivy, or any other plant or tree can live if you take a sapling and let it root again. One could debate if such a sapling would be a clone or the same individual, though. [/QUOTE] True. For that matter, I gather many of our fruit crops (e. g., seedless anything) are essentially cuttings/clones of a single plant that we’re betting will live forever, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/14 "2008-04-07T20:29:10Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] It’s not clear to me where I erred in reading the quote. Perhaps I’m having trouble with the abbreviations. I have heard natives around here speaking German, but most of us seem to speak a sort of Spanish. [/QUOTE] If they don’t speak German in Bavaria, then they don’t speak English in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![mwbrooks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/15 "2008-04-08T01:06:04Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] If they don’t speak German in Bavaria, then they don’t speak English in Texas. [/QUOTE] Ah, I get you. Whoosh; sorry. But you said _standard_ German. Since I last saw my Brit Lit teacher (Miss Smoot), I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone in Texas actually _speak_ standard English. I’ve heard it on the phone a few times, but I think those folks were in Bangalore. It’s all moot, though. I had no clue the OP had mixed up yew and ivy. How are yew and Ivy doing, by the way? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plant-that-never-dies/444098/16 "2008-04-08T01:18:01Z")
[QUOTE=mwbrooks] Ah, I get you. Whoosh; sorry. But you said _standard_ German. Since I last saw my Brit Lit teacher (Miss Smoot), I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone in Texas actually _speak_ standard English. I’ve heard it on the phone a few times, but I think those folks were in Bangalore. It’s all moot, though. I had no clue the OP had mixed up yew and ivy. How are yew and Ivy doing, by the way? 😃 [/QUOTE] It’s nice to see people understand the way corrections are offered and meant on the SDMB. There’s usually hard feelings in other Fora around here. Good on everyone in the thread.