Near side of yew bearing fungus (5)
I believe the answer is:
yeast
'fungus' is the definition.
(I know that yeast is a type of fungus)
'near side of yew bearing' is the wordplay.
'near' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'side of' says to take the initial letters (the letter from one side of the word).
'bearing' becomes 'east' (a compass bearing).
The first letter of 'yew' is 'y'.
'y' put next to 'east' is 'YEAST'.
(Other definitions for yeast that I've seen before include "It makes dough rise" , "Beer froth agent" , "Fungi used in bakery" , "It's put in to raise" , "Brewer's agent" .)