POISONOUS PLANTS
HOW OR PLANTS POISONOUS
Ingestion, contact, inhalation.
Ingestion: When a person eats a part of a poisonous plant.
Contact: When a person makes contact with a poisonous plant that causes any type of skin irritation or dermatitis.
Absorption or inhalation: When a person either absorbs the poison through the skin or inhales it into the respiratory system.
Plant poisoning can range from minor irritation to death. A common question asked is, "How poisonous is this plant?" It is difficult to say how poisonous plants are because:
Some plants require contact with a large amount of the plant before noticing any adverse reaction while others will cause death with only a small amount.
Every plant will vary in the amount of toxins it contains due to different growing conditions and slight variations in subspecies.
Every person has a different level of resistance to toxic substances.
Some persons may be more sensitive to a particular plant.
Some common misconceptions about poisonous plants are:
Watch the animals and eat what they eat.
Most of the time this statement is true, but some animals can eat plants that are poisonous to humans.
Boil the plant in water and any poisons will be removed. Boiling removes many poisons, but not all.
Plants with a red color are poisonous. Some plants that are red are poisonous, but not all.
The point is there is no one rule to aid in identifying poisonous plants.
You must make an effort to learn the plants that are poisonous in your area.
ALL ABOUT PLANTS
It is to your benefit to learn as much about plants as possible. Many poisonous plants look like their edible relatives or like other edible plants. For example, poison hemlock appears very similar to wild carrot. Certain plants are safe to eat in certain seasons or stages of growth and poisonous in other stages. For example, the leaves of the pokeweed are edible when it first starts to grow, but it soon becomes poisonous. You can eat some plants and their fruits only when they are ripe. For example, the ripe fruit of mayapple is edible, but all other parts and the green fruit are poisonous. Some plants contain both edible and poisonous parts; potatoes and tomatoes are common plant foods, but their green parts are poisonous.
Some plants become toxic after wilting. For example, when the black cherry starts to wilt, hydrocyanic acid develops. Specific preparation methods make some plants edible that are poisonous raw. You can eat the thinly sliced and thoroughly dried corms (drying may take a year) of the jack-in-the-pulpit, but they are poisonous if not thoroughly dried.
RULES FOR AVOIDING POISONOUS PLANTS
Your best policy is to be able to look at a plant and identify it with absolute certainty and to know its uses or dangers. Many times this is not possible. If you have little or no knowledge of the local vegetation, use the rules to select plants for the "Universal Edibility Test."
Remember, avoid all mushrooms. Mushroom identification is very difficult and must be precise, even more so than with other plants. Some mushrooms cause death very quickly. Some mushrooms have no known antidote. Two general types of mushroom poisoning are gastrointestinal and central nervous system.
CONTACT DERMATITIS
Contact dermatitis from plants will usually cause the most trouble in the field. The effects may be persistent, spread by scratching, and are particularly dangerous if there is contact in or around the eyes. The principal toxin of these plants is usually an oil that gets on the skin upon contact with the plant. The oil can also get on equipment and then infect whoever touches the equipment. Never burn poisonous plant because the smoke may be as harmful as the plant. There is a greater danger of being affected when overheated and sweating. The infection may be local or it may spread over the body.
Symptoms may take from a few hours to several days to appear. Signs and symptoms can include burning, reddening, itching, swelling, and blisters. When you first contact the poisonous plants or the first symptoms appear, try to remove the oil by washing with soap and cold water. If water is not available, wipe your skin repeatedly with dirt or sand. Do not use dirt if blisters have developed. The dirt may break open the blisters and leave the body open to infection. After you have removed the oil, dry the area. You can wash with a tannic acid solution and crush and rub jewelweed on the affected area to treat plant-caused rashes. You can make tannic acid from oak bark.
Poisonous plants that cause contact dermatitis are:
Cowhage.
Euphorias (Latex from most species)
Giant Hogweed (Sap and hairs)
Poison ivy
Poison oak
Poison sumac
Rengas tree
Trumpet vine
INGESTION POISONING
Ingestion poisoning can be very serious and could lead to death very quickly. Do not eat any plant unless you have positively identified it first. Keep a log of all plants eaten.
Signs and symptoms of ingestion poisoning can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, depressed heartbeat and respiration, headaches, hallucinations, dry mouth, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
The following plants and mushrooms can cause ingestion poisoning if eaten:
Apple (Seeds 200 or more)
Bitter Nightshade
Bull Nettle(All Parts except for seedsCastor bean)
Chinaberry.
Christmas Berry Tree (Berries)
Cow Parsnip(All Parts)
Daphne
Death camas.
Death Angel Mushroom
Death Cap Mushroom
Deadly Nightshade
Doll's Eyes
Eggplant(Leaves and Stems)
Lantana.
Lily Of The Valley
Larkspur(All Parts)
Manchineel.
Oleander.
Pangi.
Physic nut.
Poison and water hemlocks.
Poison Berry (Berries)
Prickly Pear Cactus(Old Pads and roots)
Rosary pea.
Rutabaga(Leaves)
Sacred Datura
Silver-leaf Nightshade
Strychnine tree.
Tomatoes(Leaves and stems)
White Snakeroot
American and European Yew(All Parts except the Fruit Flesh)
Ingestion, contact, inhalation.
Ingestion: When a person eats a part of a poisonous plant.
Contact: When a person makes contact with a poisonous plant that causes any type of skin irritation or dermatitis.
Absorption or inhalation: When a person either absorbs the poison through the skin or inhales it into the respiratory system.
Plant poisoning can range from minor irritation to death. A common question asked is, "How poisonous is this plant?" It is difficult to say how poisonous plants are because:
Some plants require contact with a large amount of the plant before noticing any adverse reaction while others will cause death with only a small amount.
Every plant will vary in the amount of toxins it contains due to different growing conditions and slight variations in subspecies.
Every person has a different level of resistance to toxic substances.
Some persons may be more sensitive to a particular plant.
Some common misconceptions about poisonous plants are:
Watch the animals and eat what they eat.
Most of the time this statement is true, but some animals can eat plants that are poisonous to humans.
Boil the plant in water and any poisons will be removed. Boiling removes many poisons, but not all.
Plants with a red color are poisonous. Some plants that are red are poisonous, but not all.
The point is there is no one rule to aid in identifying poisonous plants.
You must make an effort to learn the plants that are poisonous in your area.
It is to your benefit to learn as much about plants as possible. Many poisonous plants look like their edible relatives or like other edible plants. For example, poison hemlock appears very similar to wild carrot. Certain plants are safe to eat in certain seasons or stages of growth and poisonous in other stages. For example, the leaves of the pokeweed are edible when it first starts to grow, but it soon becomes poisonous. You can eat some plants and their fruits only when they are ripe. For example, the ripe fruit of mayapple is edible, but all other parts and the green fruit are poisonous. Some plants contain both edible and poisonous parts; potatoes and tomatoes are common plant foods, but their green parts are poisonous.
Some plants become toxic after wilting. For example, when the black cherry starts to wilt, hydrocyanic acid develops. Specific preparation methods make some plants edible that are poisonous raw. You can eat the thinly sliced and thoroughly dried corms (drying may take a year) of the jack-in-the-pulpit, but they are poisonous if not thoroughly dried.
RULES FOR AVOIDING POISONOUS PLANTS
Your best policy is to be able to look at a plant and identify it with absolute certainty and to know its uses or dangers. Many times this is not possible. If you have little or no knowledge of the local vegetation, use the rules to select plants for the "Universal Edibility Test."
Remember, avoid all mushrooms. Mushroom identification is very difficult and must be precise, even more so than with other plants. Some mushrooms cause death very quickly. Some mushrooms have no known antidote. Two general types of mushroom poisoning are gastrointestinal and central nervous system.
CONTACT DERMATITIS
Contact dermatitis from plants will usually cause the most trouble in the field. The effects may be persistent, spread by scratching, and are particularly dangerous if there is contact in or around the eyes. The principal toxin of these plants is usually an oil that gets on the skin upon contact with the plant. The oil can also get on equipment and then infect whoever touches the equipment. Never burn poisonous plant because the smoke may be as harmful as the plant. There is a greater danger of being affected when overheated and sweating. The infection may be local or it may spread over the body.
Symptoms may take from a few hours to several days to appear. Signs and symptoms can include burning, reddening, itching, swelling, and blisters. When you first contact the poisonous plants or the first symptoms appear, try to remove the oil by washing with soap and cold water. If water is not available, wipe your skin repeatedly with dirt or sand. Do not use dirt if blisters have developed. The dirt may break open the blisters and leave the body open to infection. After you have removed the oil, dry the area. You can wash with a tannic acid solution and crush and rub jewelweed on the affected area to treat plant-caused rashes. You can make tannic acid from oak bark.
Euphorias (Latex from most species)
Giant Hogweed (Sap and hairs)
Poison ivy
Poison oak
Poison sumac
Rengas tree
Trumpet vine
INGESTION POISONING
Ingestion poisoning can be very serious and could lead to death very quickly. Do not eat any plant unless you have positively identified it first. Keep a log of all plants eaten.
Signs and symptoms of ingestion poisoning can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, depressed heartbeat and respiration, headaches, hallucinations, dry mouth, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
The following plants and mushrooms can cause ingestion poisoning if eaten:
Apple (Seeds 200 or more)
Bitter Nightshade
Bull Nettle(All Parts except for seedsCastor bean)
Chinaberry.
Christmas Berry Tree (Berries)
Cow Parsnip(All Parts)
Daphne
Death camas.
Death Angel Mushroom
Death Cap Mushroom
Deadly Nightshade
Doll's Eyes
Eggplant(Leaves and Stems)
Lantana.
Lily Of The Valley
Larkspur(All Parts)
Manchineel.
Oleander.
Pangi.
Physic nut.
Poison and water hemlocks.
Poison Berry (Berries)
Prickly Pear Cactus(Old Pads and roots)
Rosary pea.
Rutabaga(Leaves)
Sacred Datura
Silver-leaf Nightshade
Strychnine tree.
Tomatoes(Leaves and stems)
White Snakeroot
American and European Yew(All Parts except the Fruit Flesh)
