Poll of the Day > Can you recognize poisonous plants?

(+) Yeah! (+)

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Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum), one of the most toxic plants in North America. All parts of this plant are poisonous by ingestion, contact with the juices, or inhalation of the smoke. It is easily mistaken for wild carrot, wild parsnip, parsley, dill, and similar plants, especially when young (as in above photo). Children have been poisoned using the hollow stems as peashooters and whistles. Hemlock was used as capital punishment in Ancient Greece; Socrates was executed using hemlock. It causes paralysis spreading from the extremities to the core of the body, eventually causing respiratory failure; the victim remains conscious the whole time. There is no antidote.

(Note that Poison Hemlock is not even remotely related to the Hemlock tree (Tsuga sp.), which is non-poisonous)

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Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) is covered with hollow hairs that act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals which cause a painful rash. Dock, which often grows nearby, is considered a folk remedy to counteract the sting. Antihistamines and hydrocortisone can also provide relief. The stinging hairs can be disabled by drying or cooking. Nettles are very nutritious with a flavor similar to spinach. But you should only eat the young plants, once it reaches the flowering stage the leaves develop gritty particles of calcium carbonate called cystoliths, which may cause kidney issues in some people. The plant was also used for its fibers to make a cloth similar to linen, and it can produce a yellow dye.

When the plant is very young it looks quite similar to various types of Mentha.

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Elderberry (Sambucus sp.) produces flowers than can be used to make tea, and berries that are edible if they are cooked. The raw berries contain cyanogenic glycosides, as do the leaves and stems. Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, and weakness. I've never heard of any deaths from consuming any part of the Elder. There are a number of antidotes available for cyanide poisoning. Cooking the berries destroys the cyanide.

I just avoid the outside as much as possible.

My family has elderberry bushes at our place (planted them ourselves) and weve never gotten sick eating the berries raw. Maybe there are varieties that are more poisonous?

But no; I couldn't ID poison plants for the life of me. In the wilderness I stick to the trails, assume all berries are poisonous, and leave it at that.

KJ StErOiDs posted...

My family has elderberry bushes at our place (planted them ourselves) and weve never gotten sick eating the berries raw. Maybe there are varieties that are more poisonous?

It's not likely an issue if you're not eating a large amount of them, but eating a large amount raw could make you sick. The seeds in particular is where most of the glycosides reside, and the amount decreases with the ripeness of the berry, so it's also better to avoid less ripe ones.

Didn't we have a topic like this recently? I seem to remember talking about how hemlock and Queen Anne's Lace look kind of identical.

That being said, no, I can't identify shit. Because I loathe nature and avoid it as much as possible.

Yes, theyre labeled

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

I just avoid the outside as much as possible.

Would you say you lock the doors and bar the windows? Because it makes too much sense that you haven't experienced the outside world.

I live in the southwest so we have Jimson weed a supposed hallucinogen the native Indians used for vision quests, although the lethal dose & the effective dose is supposedly pretty close, so you will have tweakers OD on the stuff pretty often.

Caster bean is also pretty common and I see that along side roads all the time. When the beans of that plant are crushed they form ricin, a deadly toxin common in used for assassinations, historically in eastern Europe.

Poison oak is also pretty common. It is pretty easy to identify by its three touching leaves. Some forests are infested with the stuff and the leaves will cause a rash when contacted with, so you can come out of these forests with a full body rash if you are not wearing long sleeves or pants. Every once in awhile you will hear some moron brew it in a tea and I can't imagine that is very pleasant, probably close the throat without medical attention.

Sometimes it takes a little while after eating them, but usually eventually I can.