Botany & Herbalism: Poisonous Plants

Taking a little bit of a break from from regular medicine we're moving on to a little bit of history as well as identifying a few of plants that should be avoided at all costs, some however have a long history of being used as medicinal plants. Although the latter may be true please do NOT use any of these plants in herbal medicine. There are always alternatives to these and their risks far outweigh their benefits.

So to begin I will start with some plants you may be a little more familiar with.

We'll start off with the Nightshades. Now there are more than one type of nightshade, the one commonly known as "Deadly Nightshade" is a particular type of nightshade originating in Europe. It's scientific name is Atropa belladonna, meaning "Beautiful lady". It was named this due to it's common use of being dropped into the eye and causing dilation, this was believed to be beautiful at the time. However, it is now regarded for being highly poisonous, and as it's name suggests, deadly.

Image: Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs

 This is the flower of true Atropa belladonna. Notice the bell-shaped purple flowers. It is often mistaken for it's North American cousin Woody or Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), which has star shaped flowers. While both are very poisonous Atropa belladonna has the worst reputation and is believed to be more poisonous than many of it's other cousins.


Next we have the Hemlocks. Hemlock is unfortunately a little less known of the poisonous plants, however the main one I would like to talk about is Water Hemlock  or Cicuta maculata which is believed to be the most poisonous plant in North America. It closely resembles many other, non-poisonous plants and can be hard to identify, making it exceptionally dangerous. It generally grows in areas that receive lots of water, thus it's name, and can easily cause death if ingested or severe dermatitis if picked up.

Image by: vitaminsupplementingredients.com

Image by: spiritinthewind.com

It is important to look at the leaves CLOSELY as the little white flowers to the untrained eye could make the plant look a lot like Queen Anne's Lace.

Queen Anne's Lace Image by field-notebook.com

Queen Anne's Lace leaves Image by bio.brandeis.edu

The next one on our list is one I've actually seen quite frequently around Massachusetts since I've been up here, it's the Celandine. Greater Celandine or Chelidonium majus is one I see the most of, and after identifying it in my own yard and reading more about it, I soon discovered that not only is just the sap poisonous, but the plant if ingested and cause convulsions and paralysis. It was also once used as a medicinal herb.

Greater Celandine, Image by worldoffloweringplants.com

The common dermatitis bringing plants that most people are familiar with, Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac, are so often misidentified. I am frequently asked, "Is this Poison Ivy/Oak?" and I would like to show everyone the difference so they can tell for themselves. An easy way to remember is this simple rhyme:
“Leaves of three, let it be”
“Berries white, run in fright”
“Hairy vine, no friend of mine”

Poison Ivy, or Toxicodendron radicans is best identified as having serrated, pointed leaflets in sets of 3.

Image by: twineagles.org

Poison Oak or Toxicodendron diversilobum is identified as having 3 lobed leaflets that are rounded.

Image by scitoys.com

 Finally we have the lesser known, Poison Sumac or Toxicodendron vernix, this is best identified as having up to 13 leaflets and slightly red looking stems.

Image by nachi.org

Hopefully this covers the more common poisonous plants, so that you have a better idea of what to look for. As they say: "When in doubt, throw it out." which can go for a lot of things, including poisonous plants. Always make sure you "Throw it out" with thick gloves.

~Lindsey Shemwell (The Budding Botanist)