Since I was going out for a hike today with my buddy, I thought I would take some pictures of poisonous plants for this thread, so I did. Here are a few.
This plant is Celandine (Chelidonium majus). Later on it has nice yellow flowers. This is a medicinal plant. There have been reports that the plant has been responsible for deaths in both humans and animals. Also, the stem juice may irritate the skin.
This is Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides). The plant has blue berries that have reportedly poisoned children. Also the berries, leaves, and root may cause contact dermatitis.
This is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and is a plant common to Eastern North America. In my area it's one of the first wild flowers to bloom (I know the picture doesn't show a flower L) It has been used medicinally but has the potential to cause death if ingested. . It's called Bloodroot because the juices in the root are an orangey/red colour.
This is Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) and is both an edible plant and a poisonous one. The only safe, edible part is the ripe fruit, which is yellow in colour when ripe. All the rest of the plant and the immature fruit is poisonous and can be fatal.
This one is Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), although I don't know which species. The problem part of this plant, of course, is the thorn. Apparently, if you should happen to scratch your eye with the thorn of the Hawthorn, and even if the scratch, itself, is superficial, there is a chemical in the thorn that can cause blindness.
The thorn can also be used for beneficial uses - split it from the base up 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the point, spread the split and insert fibre, the thorn can be used as a very effective sewing needle. Another benefit of using the thorn for a needle for us age-challenged individuals, is that it's a lot easier to insert the fibre this way, than through the eye of a conventional needle.
The thorn can be used as a fish hook ( a la Ray Mears). Apparently it was used by early West Coast inhabitants as a tattoo needle. It can be used medically to pierce blisters and boils.
Another use that I find interesting is, just suppose for a moment, that you're one of your early ancestors and you have to make camp for the night. The problem is that you believe some of your enemies are about, so you could take Hawthorn branches and strew them about your camp as a perimeter defense. The odds are that any enemy sneaking up on you in the middle of the night, and happened to step on one of these little beauties with a moccasined foot would probably let you know he was there.
Traditionally, Hawthorn was used as both food and medicine. Different parts were used as food including, the unfurled leaf buds, the young leaves, the flowers, and the Haws, which are the fruit of the Hawthorn. The Haws were eaten both raw and cooked. One description I read of the edibility of raw Haws said they were like little mealy apples and having tried them, I can't say that I can improve on this description. One problem with eating them raw is that they often contain insect larva, although this could be a bonus in a survival situation, providing necessary fat and protein provided they're cooked to kill any parasites that may be present. I know, YUCK! Apparently, they are much better cooked, anyway, either as a fruit sauce, or made into jams and jellies, and to this end, they provide their own pectin, which is useful. I've never tried them this way as my cooking expertise falls along the line of boil-in-a-bag. The flowers I tried tasted like rubber smells.
And this is a picture of my buddy.
Hope you enjoyed.
Doc
Huge blisters and all that.
