The Van Buren press., 1894-08-25
COMMON POISONOUS PLANTS.
- Y rs Il
Water Hemlock, Hellebore, Aconite, Fox
glove and Others.

a -. ,E
Water Hemlock, HeIiebore, Aconite, Fox
glove and Others.
The recent death of five school boys
at Tarrytown, N. Y, from eating a root
which they supposed to be sweet flag,
calls attention in very tragic and
painful way to the presence of poison.
GUS plants in our woods and fields
just what the root really was have
not definitely learned, A IN, dical jour.
nal commenting on the case supposes
that it was the very common plant
known as poison ivy or poison oak
| lRhiis tokieodetidrol)i My own opin.
ion would be that it was probably either
| the water hemlock (Cicuta maculata)
| or the American hellebore (Veratrum
viride) both of which are poisonous
plants that grow, like the harmless
sweet flag, in moist localities. But per-
haps it is not SO important to learn
| what plant killed the unfortunate lads
| as to remember that the fatal root was
so palatable that the boys ate it eager
ly. That root or other vegeta BILE
| product may be pleasant to the taste
and yet contain deadly poison is a
very important thing to know
Fortunately not many of our native
plants possess this very dangerous
| combination of qualities of those that
do, perhaps the most dangerous is the
water hemloek, already mentioned.
This is rank weed, growing common
ly in moist localities. Its fieshy roots
| ha n
virulently poisonous. To add to the
danger there is a closely-related plant,
called the sweet ciee1y, that grows in
similar localities and much resembles
the water hemlock, but which has a
root that is both palatable and whole
some. Many persons have lost their
lives through mistaking one of these
plants for the other Another related
| plant that grows commonly here, hav.
ing been introduced from Europe. is
| the poison hemlocl (conium maculata),
the plant that furnished the poison
with which the ancient Greeks killed
their capital criminals, and sonnet times,
as in the ease of Socrates and Phocion,
their philosophers. These deadly hem
|
the parsnip, carrot and celery, all three
of which vegetables are poisonous in
their native state. and have only be.
come wholesome through cultivation.
Even now the parsnip sometimes de-
velops poisonous principles if allowed
to become too old before being pulled.
The hellebore is also common
plant, growing in boggy places. 1t is
a lily Though no one but botanist
would suspect the relationship with
broad plated leaves that clasp the
stem at their base. The poisonous
properties of this plant were well
known to the Indians, who are said tc
have sometimes used it in selecting
their chiefs-the man who could take
most of the poison with impunity being
regarded as strongest and best quail
fed to lead. On account of this tradi-
tion the hellebore is often called in.
dian poke" 1t is also sometimes called
'crow plant" because the early settlers
scattered corn stepped in decoction
of hellebore over their fields to poison
| crows.
|
common and very dangerous plants. A
few weeks ago family on Long Island
suffered from eating the roots of one OF
| these plants. We have several native
species, but none of these is as we'll
known as the monks hood, y
which has come to us from Europe.
| This plant has a historical interest,
as it's poison was used on arrow heads
in primitive warfare, and in the exc
cution of criminals in more civilized
communities. In some countries it was
used to poison wolves, and hence it is
often called 'wolfsbane."
We are also indebted to Europe for
several other common plants that arc
very poisonous: in particular, the fox
glove Digitalis purpurea), the deadly
nightshade (Atropa beladonna), the
henbane QIyoscyamus niger and the
stramonium (datura stramonium). The
last named is very common roadside
weed, having large tubular white
| flower. 1t is commonly called James.
town weed, often corrupted to ''jimsen
weed" this same having it's origin in
an incident of the early history
of Virginia. Some soldiers who had
been sent to jamestown to quell
| the rebellion of Bacon were poisoned
by eating salad made of young shoots
of the stramonium. The deadly night-
shade must not be confounded with our
charming lilies called dropping night
shades 0rilliums), which are plants Ct
far better repute
have mentioned only the commoner
plants whose poisons are most virulent.
A long list might be added of plants ia
some degree poisonous, but the effects
of which are seldom fatal. Perhaps
the most common of all, and certainly
the most generally y known, is the poison
i've, already referred to, which really
is not an ivy at all, but climbing
sumac Uhus). This plant has the un-
envable distinction of being poisonous
to the touch. Fortunately it does not
affect all persons, however, some being
able to handle it with impunity.-Har'
per's Young People.
Fanny Crosby, the blind Methodist
hymn writer, is now seventy years OF