HWN Suggests

The Dual History of Poisonous Flowers

The more distanced we become from the natural world, the more we forget that plants, too, have tooth and claw. What we so often treat as merely decorative has agency apart from our desires. “A plant that is so tender, immobile, typically considered just fodder for livestock — it has its own power, its own goals,” the New York City floral designer Emily Thompson says. The ancients knew this, among them the second-century-B.C. ruler Attalus III of Pergamum (now the modern-day Turkish city of Bergama), who in his palace garden grew the likes of henbane, or stinking nightshade, with its purple-hearted yellow bells and gift of hallucinations and a rattling heart; delicate hellebore, which can sting…

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Featured

  Dangerous plants: keeping children safe

Gardens are generally safe and interesting places, and children often love spending time in them. But gardens aren’t always designed with children in mind.

  Poisonous and Non-poisonous Plants

Some plants can be poisonous if you eat them. Others can hurt you if you get them on your skin. For some plants, all parts of the plant are poisonous. For others, only certain parts of the plant are harmful. The danger can range from mild irritation to severe illness or death. Check out our illustrated list of selected poisonous and non-poisonous plants.

 Don’t be bitter: how to avoid toxic plants

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/aug/23/toxic-plants-three-ways-to-keep-safe-when-crops-revert-to-their-wild-old-ways.

 Poisonous Plants - Check What Houseplants Should You Avoid

Plants, although pretty, are not always safe for humans or animals. Many houseplants appearing in our homes are poisonous and one has to be careful about them - especially if there are small children around.

 What You May Not Know About Poison Ivy

Sure, it’s irritating. But this unpopular native plant also has underappreciated superpowers. Here’s how to deal with it.

 When Edible Plants Turn Their Defenses On Us

Fruits and vegetables are unquestionably essential to a healthful diet. But there's another side to some of these plants that, thankfully, most people never see: the tiny amounts of toxins within them. The minute amounts of poison found in many seeds, leaves and roots are the result of the protracted arms race between plants and the animals that try to eat them.

Articles of Interest

Big, Bad Botany: Hemlock (Conium maculatum), the Philosopher’s Choice

According to Christian mythology, the hemlock plant became poisonous after growing on the hillside of Jesus’ crucifixion. When his blood touched the plant, it turned forever toxic. However, the most infamous poisoning by hemlock is attributed to the Greek philosopher Socrates, who chose a hemlock drink as his preferred means of death—most sources say that he drank it mixed with water or as a tea.

Climate Changes Are Making Poison Ivy More Potent

New research shows the rash-inducing plant appears to be growing faster and producing more potent oil compared with earlier decades. The reason? Rising ambient carbon-dioxide levels create ideal conditions for the plant, producing bigger leaves, faster growth, hardier plants and oil that's even more irritating.

Curious Creatures' Plants To Avoid

NOW that the focal point of gardening has moved indoors, parents and people with animals in their homes need to remember that some common house plants are poisonous. Especially susceptible are children under 5 and puppies and kittens.

Death-Cap Mushrooms Are Spreading Across North America

“There’s nothing in the taste that tells you what you are eating is about to kill you.”

Don't Touch! A Scientist's Advice For Spotting Poison Ivy Before It Ruins Your Summer

The tricky thing about avoiding poison ivy, Jelesko says, is the plant is highly adaptable and can take many different forms in different environments.

Holiday Plants with Toxic Misconceptions

Several plants are used for their decorative effect during winter holidays. This review explores the toxic reputation and proposed management for exposures to several of those, namely poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), English holly (Ilex aquifolium), American holly (Ilex opaca), bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara), Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum), American mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum), and European mistletoe (Viscum album).

Little shop of horrors: the Australian plants that can kill you

Australia is so famous for its dangerous creatures that visitors often arrive fearful that everything that moves is out to get them. In a land where snakes, spiders, shells and even one of the iconic mammals – the platypus – can bite or sting, should we all be worried about plants as well? Plants around the world produce a staggering diversity of chemicals and many of these are potentially toxic to animals including humans, sometimes even upon contact. Many of these toxins have evolved to protect plant roots, leaves and unripe fruits from being eaten by herbivores, particularly insects and browsing mammals.

Poisonous Plants

Chemicals in some nightshade plants are potentially lethal and should be avoided for herbal uses — unless they’re involved in a fictional murder plot.

Poisonous Plants: Geographic Distribution

One or more of the most common poisonous plant species are found throughout the United States (except Alaska and Hawaii). These plants can be found in forests, fields, wetlands and along streams, road sides, and even in urban environments, such as, parks and backyards.

Safe and Poisonous Garden Plants

To search for photos of these plants, check the UC Berkeley CalPhotos: Plants site. Toxicity Class... 1.Major Toxicity: These plants may cause serious illness or death. If ingested, immediately call the Poison Control Center -- (800) 222-1222 -- or your doctor.

Venomous snakes distribution and species risk categories

Venomous snakes occur throughout many regions of the world and are a threat to public health, especially in the rural tropics where they are most abundant. Out of more than 3000 species of snakes in the world, some 600 are venomous and over 200 are considered to be medically important.

Welcome To The Poison Garden: Medicine's Medieval Roots

Plants evolved poisonous properties to keep from being eaten, explains Dr. Henry Oakeley, who has studied the medicinal effects of plants as a Garden Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians. Some of those same chemicals that began as plant protection, he says, are now used to help people — by killing cancer cells, say, or quieting an overactive muscle or a painful nerve cell.

Why Pop Culture Links Women and Killer Plants

Botany is seeing a mini-revival as a plot device, adding a transgressive edge to recent films like Phantom Thread and Annihilation.

‘The World's Most Dangerous Drug' Grows Everywhere in Romania

Scopolamine is extracted from Datura, a bush that can be found all over Bucharest – from abandoned parking lots to people's backyards.

Resources

10 of the world’s most poisonous plants

Such poisonous plants have a very important place in human culture, from their homicidal uses to their medicinal benefits. This list gives a rundown of ten of the most lethal.

20 Houseplants That Are Toxic to Cats

Some plants that are toxic to cats are also harmful to humans if ingested, such as sago palm, aloe vera, peace lily, and dieffenbachia, to name a few.

Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center

This web site is dedicated to those individuals that have ever experienced and suffered through the itching and painful rashes associated with contact of an oil called urushiol (you-ROO-shee-ol) from these plants. We hope that you will find relief in the pages on this site.