Knowing More about Poisonous Plants

Being a herbalist out in the field don’t touch any plants and especially don’t taste anything without taking extra precautions and being fully aware that the plant you want to taste or touch is safe.

Reading and knowing about poisonous plants in you area is important if one wants to harvest from the wild. The wild offers a variety of beneficial herbs but in the midst of them are poisonous plants. One should not be so paranoid about poisonous plants, most of them merely cause stomach upsets and diarrhea and it’s in rare cases that it would be found that a poisonous plant has caused serious harm or death. Incase of serious harm from plant poisoning the first thing to do is to contact the Poison control hotline for advice.

Some poisonous plants will cause one to develop rashes incase one touches them. In some cases one might develop Dermatitis. Plants that can cause this include Poison Ivy, Poison Sumac (White berries) and nettles. Incase of contact with wild Parnship one may develop serious rash. In addition there are plants which one has to take extra caution when being around them. These include the night shade, Parsley (umbilliferae) and wild peas. It should also be remembered that some exotic plants used in landscaping as well as some of the common houseplants are highly poisonous. It is easy to get poisoned by these plants. Young children are particularly vulnerable as they like playing with these houseplants. Children should thus be warned against ingesting these plants and even in some cases against touching them. For cases of plant poisoning from house plants or wild plants, the plant that has caused the poisoning should be preserved and the Poison Control hotline immediately contacted.

Plants that may cause death or harm

Some poisonous plants may cause serious harm including paralysis and even death upon being touched or tasted. Some of the poisonous plants in the wild are actually deadly species and a lot of caution should be taken when dealing with them.

These include the Mushrooms. Mushrooms as a matter of fact should be handled using extreme caution. One should not attempt to taste a mushroom unless he/she is very confident about the safety of that Mushroom. These should ideally be in such cases where one has dealt with that mushroom before. Other highly toxic poisonous plants include poison hemlock, water hemlock and Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium). These plants contain deadly poisons and contact with them should be avoided.

There are also other plant species that contact and tasting should be avoided as it can lead to death or serious harm. These include red and white baneberries, dogbane which can easily be confused with young milkweed shoots, deadly nightshade, monkshood, Jack-in-the-pulpit and Virginia creeper. These plants are highly toxic, with some like the Monkshood being highly poisonous. Tasting the skunk cabbage will cause a severe burning in the mouth while the Buckthorn berries have a strong laxative effect.

It’s important to carry more internet research and read books, to know more about poisonous plants and especially those that are highly toxic.