9-15-22
Water Hemlock — The Deadliest Plant In North America
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Where does Monkshood rate.......??
no idea
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@Sourdough
Water Hemlock:
How it Kills You: The roots of water hemlock are the most toxic part of the plant, but any part of the plant can kill. Very small amounts of the plant (0.1% in humans) can kill a person. This plant is also incredibly dangerous for grazing animals, which often eat the nice-smelling plant. Symptoms of cicutoxin poisoning include drooling, frothing at the mouth, nervousness, tremors, seizures, and respiratory failure. This plant can kill people and livestock within 15 minutes of ingestion.
Monkshood:
How it Kills You: Death usually occurs within two to four hours of poisoning – eat enough, and this plant will kill an adult almost instantly. Touching this plant won’t kill you, but some people experience allergic reactions. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, a sensation of burning or tingling or numbness around the mouth, and a burning feeling in the abdomen. You may also experience sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, and headache. Eventually, the heart starts to beat erratically and eventually stops beating at all.
Found this information at:
https://www.plantsnap.com/blog/identify-deadly-plants/
Water Hemlock:
How it Kills You: The roots of water hemlock are the most toxic part of the plant, but any part of the plant can kill. Very small amounts of the plant (0.1% in humans) can kill a person. This plant is also incredibly dangerous for grazing animals, which often eat the nice-smelling plant. Symptoms of cicutoxin poisoning include drooling, frothing at the mouth, nervousness, tremors, seizures, and respiratory failure. This plant can kill people and livestock within 15 minutes of ingestion.
Monkshood:
How it Kills You: Death usually occurs within two to four hours of poisoning – eat enough, and this plant will kill an adult almost instantly. Touching this plant won’t kill you, but some people experience allergic reactions. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, a sensation of burning or tingling or numbness around the mouth, and a burning feeling in the abdomen. You may also experience sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, and headache. Eventually, the heart starts to beat erratically and eventually stops beating at all.
Found this information at:
https://www.plantsnap.com/blog/identify-deadly-plants/
Where is that stuff when I need to make a salad for my neighbor?
There is a lot of Monkshood on my property, especially along the creek. It has a beautiful small deep-deep blue/purple flower looks like a monk's hood.
Don't eat any plants without asking Peanut first!!
So my mother in law's birthday is coming up!!
Maybe sending some flowers!!
Maybe sending some flowers!!
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It was also used to kill wolves, thus called wolfbane in days of yore.
It's a good idea for anyone to be wise and know about poisonous plants and helpful herbs.
Water hemlock is deadly, I'm extremely careful around it. I see it almost daily in the summer. It grows in a great many places I go.
But it does have a use. An extremely powerful but dangerous pain reliever can be made from it. It's on par with morphine but not addictive. Still, I'd have to be desperate before I'd use hemlock. Can't stress the danger level enough on this one.
There are several plants that can kill. I know another that was used to sedate surgery patients as far back as the civil war. It killed lots of patients. I see it everywhere and it's not even in the dangerous lists I've seen.
But it does have a use. An extremely powerful but dangerous pain reliever can be made from it. It's on par with morphine but not addictive. Still, I'd have to be desperate before I'd use hemlock. Can't stress the danger level enough on this one.
There are several plants that can kill. I know another that was used to sedate surgery patients as far back as the civil war. It killed lots of patients. I see it everywhere and it's not even in the dangerous lists I've seen.
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https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/yellow-jasmine.9188/What is it? Asking for a friend.
Water Hemlock is even more concerning given it's two look-a-likes... A term I dislike because there are no look-a-likes. No matter how similar 2 species are there are always subtle differences.
But water hemlock is very similar to elderberry. A novice probably couldn't tell them apart. I can identify each while driving at hwy speed but I've seen thousands of examples of each. Symmetry is the word... Water Hemlock is a very symmetrical, stalk and branch structure and the blooms. Elderberry looks sloppy, messy, limbs go any direction, even downward. Same for it's blooms, messy.
They bloom at the same time sometimes grow intertwined with each other.
A simple way to avoid hemlock when harvesting elderberry blooms? Elderberry grows in wet areas and dry areas. Don't harvest elderberry in boggy areas. Hemlock only grows in bogs, next to water.
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7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants
https://www.britannica.com/list/7-of-the-worlds-deadliest-plants
The yearly reminder for folks who harvest elderberry blooms... Elderberry sometimes grows side by side with water hemlock. W. hemlock starts blooming before elderberry but there is often overlap. Both have large white blooms and the leaves are similar.
W. hemlock is starting to bloom, saw thousands of plants today beside the road to town, took a few pics, below.
Be careful folks! Water hemlock isn't a plant you want to mistake... it's deadly!
W. hemlock is starting to bloom, saw thousands of plants today beside the road to town, took a few pics, below.
Be careful folks! Water hemlock isn't a plant you want to mistake... it's deadly!
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Thank you. I need to better inspect the plant to see if they are the same.
Unless you’re in Idaho. Hemlock grows anywhere you have a little bit of moisture here including pastures! No bog needed…
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The plant I have is growing in a wash. We are close to a lake and the air here smells like a salt marsh.
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water hemlock even grows in montana...dont let kids play with it. deadly poision.
20yrs ago there were 5/6 species of water hemlock in N. america according to my botany books. The western w. hemlock used to be called Cicuta douglasii. The species here in alabama i saw most often was Cicuta maculata. It loves boggy ground. 10 years ago there were 3 species of water hemlock here in the south. I've seen 2 of them. One is a flimsy little thing that grows in shallow standing water, don't remember it's name. Then c. maculata, the 3rd one I never saw.
Now botanist say there are only 2 species in n. america. There has been tremendous work done in dna mapping of all plant life. The names of plant species change often. I have 10yr old books with out dated name info.
Previously species were named by looks and location. Sort of silly, I'm located close to the meeting point of 3 geologic zones. The variation i see in the appearance of plants within a single species is huge! To the point of being almost unrecognizable in some cases.
Here's the usda site... details the 2 'New' species of water hemlock.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/cicuta_maculata.shtml
I couldn't see enough in your pic to make a positive id. But, what i see makes me believe its not hemlock. I'm unsure which are it's leaves. Are there fine white hairs on the stem?
It's clearly in the same plant family though, in the 'carrot or parsley' family.
How is it compared to Datura, castor, and Rhubarb leaves?
I like to keep up to date on my toxins. It's not very common here, it looks too much like wild carrots.
I like to keep up to date on my toxins. It's not very common here, it looks too much like wild carrots.
It hasn't changed since the greeks put Socrates to death with it in 399 bc.
I still think Datura is more effective and more fun! it drives you insane and blind before it kills ya.
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https://missouripoisoncenter.org/is-this-a-poison/wild-carrot-a-hemlock-look-a-like/
I got this confused with it before
( better than the other way around I suppose or some of our goats would now be dead)
I got this confused with it before
( better than the other way around I suppose or some of our goats would now be dead)
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I didn't want to touch it in case it was hemlock. I went out this morning and the city had come through and mowed the road edge cutting down the plant in question and a bunch of dewberry plants that were around it. I did find another one closer to the pasture fence and got a few pictures. It looks more like wild carrot to me now but without the purple in the center. I did not see white hairs on the stems. No purple splotching either.
Easy to do with plants in this family. You've now introduced yet another member of the family, poison hemlock.
This thread is about Cicuta maculata aka 'water hemlock'. Other than the bloom it doesn't look like wild carrots (aka Daucus carota aka queen ann's lace). The leaves are very different and it's easy to see this difference from several yards away.
Your link is comparing wild carrots to... Conium maculatum aka 'poison hemlock'. Yet another member of the family.
Pardon the pun but poison hemlock is a dead ringer for wild carrots. It's so similar it's spooky. Yet there is one easy to see difference. "Queen Ann has hairy legs". Wild carrots have fine white hairs on the stem. Poison hemlock has a smooth stem. There are other differences that are more difficult to see, very subtle.
Conium maculatum aka poison hemlock
https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-we...esearch/docs/poison-hemlock-conium-maculatum/
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Cicuta maculata aka water hemlock
https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-we...research/docs/water-hemlock-cicuta-douglasii/
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Water Hemlock and Poison Hemlock are two different plant species. They are closely related but have many differences. They do have a few similarities, namely the bloom and the fact both will kill you dead.
Hope this helps clarify matters.
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here is something useful
we have a lot of those growing around here but the animals seem to know to avoid them thankfully and I spray them if I see them in the pasture
https://med.virginia.edu/brpc/wp-content/uploads/sites/274/2021/01/SOCRATES-PROJECT-Jan2021.pdf
we have a lot of those growing around here but the animals seem to know to avoid them thankfully and I spray them if I see them in the pasture
https://med.virginia.edu/brpc/wp-content/uploads/sites/274/2021/01/SOCRATES-PROJECT-Jan2021.pdf
I don't think your plant is either of the hemlock species. But it's definitely in the same family.
And... you say it has no hairs on the stem. That said, i do not recognize it. It's not coming up in the data bases I use for plant id in the southeast. The leaves are throwing me... Might be a plant native to the great plains or west texas.
I think i need to do a new thread on wild carrots. I thought i'd done one already but couldn't find it.
For clarification here i took these moments ago... these 3 pics are of queen ann's lace aka Daucus carota. It's leaves are two different shapes. Near the ground first then up high... Bottom pic is the stem with fine white hairs. (Its common for a plant to have leaves of different shapes, for instance, sassafras tree has leaves with 4 different shapes)
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I didn't see the purple bloom in the center that is typical of wild carrot so I didn't think it was. I will check again.
Not sure why there would be west Texas species here. We are an hour southeast of Dallas. It seems marsh-y and there is the smell of salt in the air. Perfect for crawdad hunting.
The dot in the center of the bloom of carrots... the dot comes from europe. Settlers brought wild carrots with them to north america, Daucus carota. It has the dot.
But, there was already another species of wild carrot growing here, Daucus pusillus. Looks identical but does not have the dot in the center of the bloom.
After 300 years of cross breeding its a crap shoot, some wild carrots have the dot, some don't. I don't rely on the dot for identification. But the hairs on the stem are easy to see.
Here's a good description of the european carrot and the north american carrot. And a recipe for carrot jelly.
https://www.eattheweeds.com/daucus-carota-pusillus-edible-wild-carrots-2/
