Self Help

Some plants which are harmful when eaten or touched may be beautiful and useful in the landscape, or some plants when eaten may offer gustatory delights, while parts of the same plant may be highly poisonous. Or again, what is good at one season of the year may be poisonous at another. Examples of these three would be poison ivy, choke-cherries, and pokeweed. The bright Christmas flower - the poinsettia - has a number of quite poisonous relatives, but is itself comparatively harmless. One of the florists’ primroses is no longer grown because it is quite possible to get a bad rash from the foliage.

Beyond this, one comes to “poisonous” qualities which may not even exist, as in the case of a myth that has grown around one of the bright Christmas peppers. Its foliage is rated as poisonous, but by legend it was said that if the plant appeared in the home a death would occur. The fact remains that there are in this great land of ours many plants, even things of beauty and utility, which are poisonous in one way or another. Such plants are found among all native botanical types: algae, fungi, ferns, herbs, vines, shrubs, and trees. And as hinted, the term “poisonous plants” may designate not only kinds of plants, but also a wide range of poisonous or disturbing effects. Such effects may be classified as allergies, coming from windblown spores

So how does someone interested in the uses of the great wild bounty of our country keep away from the dangers that exist? As a first step it would be a good idea have on hand a good reference book. Further, it should be known that there are in many states Poison Control Centers which can give advice if certain plants are ingested. And here a few basic ways to avoid plant poisoning:

1. Become familiar with the dangerous plants in your own neighborhood.

2. Do not eat wild plants, including mushrooms, unless positive of identification.

3. Keep plants, seeds, fruits, and bulbs away from infants.

4. Teach children at an early age to keep unknown plants and plant parts out of their mouths.

5. Teach children to recognize poison ivy or other causes of dermatitis in your area.

6. Be certain you know the plants used by children as playthings (seeds, fruits, stems, etc.) or as skewers for meat.

7. Do not allow children to suck nectar from flowers or make “tea” from leaves of any plants.

8. Avoid smoke from burning plants, unless you know exactly what they are.

9. Remember that heating and cooking do not always destroy the toxic substance.

10. Store labeled bulbs and seeds safely away from children and pets.

11. Do not make homemade medicines from native or cultivated plants without careful research.