Playing with Van Veen's specious
poison (the poisoned point of Ardis. Arrowhead Manor. Le Château de
la Flèche, Flesh Hall.) which is inflicted by his fleshy "sting" or by
the effect of an "extract of scarlet aril, the flesh of yew,
just only yew. Je réalise, as your sweet Cinderella de Torf (now Madame Trofim
Fartukov) used to say, that I’m being coy and obscene".
Actually, from the wiki I gathered that the only
non-poisonous part of the yew is its ruby aril, but we're now, thru ADA, in the
coils of a metaphoronimic viper.
The image of the small seed is suggestive
of Ada's meaning, but only in part.
Peaty Cinderella de Torf (Mme Trofim) is
unrelated to "Aqua Tofana", I suppose, but linked to venereal diseases.