Yew

Yew 

Taxus cuspidata

 Appearance: The yew is an evergreen bush or shrub. It has flat needles for leaves. Instead of a cone, the yew grows red berries that surround their seeds. 

Yew wood was a favorite for bows, especially longbows. It is springy, an important quality for making a weapon that had to have been bent repetitively. Bows and arrows were used by warriors in the Bible but the writer of 1 Samuel reminds us that God should be our source of strength. 

The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
                                                                                                           1 Samuel 2:4      KJV