# Talk:Conium maculatum

I can not verify this source: "The seeds and roots are more toxic than the leaves."  JimRenge (talk) 18:15, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

I removed it already. Probably a garble from years of editing by many hands. We have plenty of reliably-sourced material in the section. Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:17, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

The "Toxicity" section has contradictory info about the toxicity of the plant in spring:
"Generally, plants are at their least poisonous in the spring; though, this is also when grazing animals are most likely to be poisoned." and "Hemlock is at its most poisonous in the spring when the concentration of γ-coniceine (the precursor to other toxins) is at its peak." I wonder which info is correct.  JimRenge (talk) 13:22, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Not sure we can resolve the learned claims, but perhaps the "most likely" in [2] hints at an answer: the plants contain less toxin, but may (therefore) taste less bitter and get eaten in larger doses. But that's pure speculation. Some authorities (e.g. OSU) suggest that cattle avoid hemlock when other forage is available; so perhaps animals risk eating hemlock in spring before other forage has started to grow. Interesting but rather close to SYNTH. I've rearranged the material and added "Some authorities..." to indicate the apparent inconsistency. Chiswick Chap (talk) 13:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
Thanks.  JimRenge (talk) 15:41, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
I missed that I introduced this problem thanks for fixing. Poisonous Plants and Fungi in Britain does not give a source for the claim that plants are less toxic in the spring so research in journal sources is needed. So far I have found a definite source saying that there are no alkaloids in the roots of first year plants in the spring (on page 43). 🌿MtBotany (talk) 15:52, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
Update: The amount of toxins varies by time of year and by which year the plant is in. First year plants in spring have lower levels with seedlings having the least. Second year plants have higher levels than even the leaves of first year plants in the fall. There is a chart on page 264. I suspect the variation between years is what caused the confusion in the books and other sources because the spring growth of second year plants is highly toxic. 🌿MtBotany (talk) 17:12, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
Thanks MTBotany. Could you tweak the paragraph to incorporate that? If it's definitive enough, then it should be all right to remove some of the existing havering about sources from the text. Chiswick Chap (talk) 17:39, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
I trust we now have a stable text. Putting it back in the GAN queue. Chiswick Chap (talk) 12:26, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

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