I have a row of Laurel trees at the bottom of the garden, which have
produced round black berries for the first time since I moved in 3 years
ago.

My mother-in-law has informed me that the berries are highly toxic.

With two young kids (1 and 3 years old) I am now afraid that they could do
themselves some serious harm.

Can anyone advise on how toxic the berries (and perhaps even the leaves)
are, what the signs are, and if any First Aid is recommended.

Thanks in advance for any help

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 09:02:03 +0100, "Kev Pearce"
wrote:

I have a row of Laurel trees at the bottom of the garden, which have
produced round black berries for the first time since I moved in 3 years
ago.

My mother-in-law has informed me that the berries are highly toxic.

With two young kids (1 and 3 years old) I am now afraid that they could do
themselves some serious harm.

Can anyone advise on how toxic the berries (and perhaps even the leaves)
are, what the signs are, and if any First Aid is recommended.

All parts of the laurel are poisonous, especially the berries

Search Google for Laurel+berries+toxic, tons of references

(Don't forget privet, yew and laburnum either!)

A dangerous place, a garden 8-(


--
®óñ© © ²°°³

In article , Kev
Pearce writes
I have a row of Laurel trees at the bottom of the garden, which have
produced round black berries for the first time since I moved in 3 years
ago.

My mother-in-law has informed me that the berries are highly toxic.

With two young kids (1 and 3 years old) I am now afraid that they could do
themselves some serious harm.

Can anyone advise on how toxic the berries (and perhaps even the leaves)
are, what the signs are, and if any First Aid is recommended.

The berries and leaves (and probably other parts) are toxic - the agent
involved is basically cyanide, which is contained in many of the Prunus
(cherry stones, almonds etc). The leaves used to be used crushed in
killing jars for butterfly collection.

That said, it is unlikely to be the only toxic plants in your garden -
lily of the valley, honeysuckle AFAIK both have poisonous berries. You
are unlikely to be able to rid your garden of poisonous things.

The most important thing is to teach your children that they should eat
*nothing* from the garden without showing it to mum or dad first. To
rely on making your garden safe without teaching them plants can be
dangerous is to put your children in danger when they go into friends
gardens, public parts or the countryside.

Agreed, your one year old can't be expected to learn this reliably just
yet - but equally, you won't be letting him/her play unsupervised
outside.

In the meantime, it is very unlikely that the children will eat the
leaves of the laurel, and you can prevent it from having berries simply
by removing the flowers when they are over.

In a few years time you need not bother any more, if you have trained
your children in the dangers. I spent many happy childhood days playing
in a berry-festooned laurel tree in my parents garden, and watching the
colour changes as the berries ripened was another contribution to my
current love of plants.

I can also remember waiting for a home visit from the GP when I was in
bed with measles or something, and my mother advising me to remove my
bedside flower arrangement of woody nightshade berries in case the
doctor jumped to some wrong conclusions ;-)

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Thanks both Ron and Kay for your replies.
Good advice, and the teaching process starts here !

"Kev Pearce" wrote in message
...
I have a row of Laurel trees at the bottom of the garden, which have
produced round black berries for the first time since I moved in 3 years
ago.

My mother-in-law has informed me that the berries are highly toxic.

With two young kids (1 and 3 years old) I am now afraid that they could do
themselves some serious harm.

Can anyone advise on how toxic the berries (and perhaps even the leaves)
are, what the signs are, and if any First Aid is recommended.

Thanks in advance for any help

In article ,
"Kev Pearce" writes:
| Thanks both Ron and Kay for your replies.
| Good advice, and the teaching process starts here !

A chilli plant could be a useful teaching aid for the one year old.
Leave it at ground level, say "NO" firmly, and do nothing to stop
the child from eating a fruit ....

I follow the child rearing school of the late Professor Pavlov :-)

Also, it is essential not to say "no" to everything, or they will
stop asking. There is no need to forbid anything that isn't
dangerous, and saying "don't eat that - but this is OK" is a
lot more effective.


A slightly irrelevant story. My daughter copied me in telling a
drunken (teenage) friend of hers that japonica fruit is edible.
Which is, of course, true. Apparently, the shock of biting into
one got through even his inebriation!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Kev Pearce" writes:
| Thanks both Ron and Kay for your replies.
| Good advice, and the teaching process starts here !

A chilli plant could be a useful teaching aid for the one year old.
Leave it at ground level, say "NO" firmly, and do nothing to stop
the child from eating a fruit ....

I follow the child rearing school of the late Professor Pavlov :-)

Also, it is essential not to say "no" to everything, or they will
stop asking. There is no need to forbid anything that isn't
dangerous, and saying "don't eat that - but this is OK" is a
lot more effective.


A slightly irrelevant story. My daughter copied me in telling a
drunken (teenage) friend of hers that japonica fruit is edible.
Which is, of course, true. Apparently, the shock of biting into
one got through even his inebriation!

At my old school there was a dual-purpose row of quinces. Real quinces, not
japonicas. The teachers used them as a source of sticks for caning purposes
and we used them for the fruit, which we surreptitiously fermented into a
potable, if sour, alcoholic drink.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
[...]
At my old school there was a dual-purpose row of quinces. Real quinces, not
japonicas. The teachers used them as a source of sticks for caning purposes
and we used them for the fruit, which we surreptitiously fermented into a
potable, if sour, alcoholic drink.

Our housemasters beamed benignly when we made ginger beer: as you've
guessed, they weren't biology masters!

Mike.

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

I can also remember waiting for a home visit from the GP when I was in
bed with measles or something, and my mother advising me to remove my
bedside flower arrangement of woody nightshade berries in case the
doctor jumped to some wrong conclusions ;-)

I have some packs in the freezer marked 'Nightshade'.

I make nightshade tarts, nightshade pies and nightshade jam. But before
you rush out and plunder some woody nightshade vines, let me first
whisper in your ear 'black nightshade'.

The plant is about as poisonous as a tomato plant, and the green berries
are about as deadly as green tomatoes, though I've never been tempted to
make green nightshade chutney.

When the berries are ripe they are perfectly edible, and are sweetish
and refreshing. Apart from the size of the plants and their fruits, I
can see no difference between black nightshade and 'garden
huckleberries', nor taste any.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

A slightly irrelevant story. My daughter copied me in telling a
drunken (teenage) friend of hers that japonica fruit is edible.
Which is, of course, true. Apparently, the shock of biting into
one got through even his inebriation!

I have a japanese quince which bears large fruit (and I'm just about to
acquire one which carries the smaller yellow ones). Sliced and tied up
in a muslin bag and cooked with apples, the quinces impart a delicious
flavour. Beats cloves any day.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

In article , Rusty Hinge
writes

The plant is about as poisonous as a tomato plant, and the green berries
are about as deadly as green tomatoes, though I've never been tempted to
make green nightshade chutney.

When the berries are ripe they are perfectly edible, and are sweetish
and refreshing. Apart from the size of the plants and their fruits, I
can see no difference between black nightshade and 'garden
huckleberries', nor taste any.

IIRC there are two different plants commonly called huckleberry, and one
of them is indeed black nightshade or a variety of it. I grew it once,
but wasn't particularly enamoured of it. There's much nicer berries
around.

Both black nightshade and woody nightshade are Solanum, and isn't
Solanum melongela the aubergine?

Tomato is Lycopersicum esculentum, but I've completely forgotten what
the potato is.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

The message
from (Mike Lyle) contains these words:
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
[...]
At my old school there was a dual-purpose row of quinces. Real
quinces, not
japonicas. The teachers used them as a source of sticks for caning
purposes
and we used them for the fruit, which we surreptitiously fermented into a
potable, if sour, alcoholic drink.

Our housemasters beamed benignly when we made ginger beer: as you've
guessed, they weren't biology masters!

I don't think they ever knew about mine - I was making dandelion wine
and parsnip wine when I was ten.

We used to roll cherry leaves into cigars and have dissolute nights
camping out on the lawn in the summer, smoking vile weeds, drinking fine
wines and munching on ransoms bulbs.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

The message
from (Mike Lyle) contains these words:
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
[...]
At my old school there was a dual-purpose row of quinces. Real
quinces, not
japonicas. The teachers used them as a source of sticks for caning
purposes
and we used them for the fruit, which we surreptitiously fermented into a
potable, if sour, alcoholic drink.

Our housemasters beamed benignly when we made ginger beer: as you've
guessed, they weren't biology masters!

I don't think they ever knew about mine - I was making dandelion wine
and parsnip wine when I was ten.

We used to roll cherry leaves into cigars and have dissolute nights
camping out on the lawn in the summer, smoking vile weeds, drinking fine
wines and munching on ransoms bulbs.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
om...
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
[...]
At my old school there was a dual-purpose row of quinces. Real quinces,
not
japonicas. The teachers used them as a source of sticks for caning
purposes
and we used them for the fruit, which we surreptitiously fermented into
a
potable, if sour, alcoholic drink.

My father was an extremely strict teetotaller. That is, except for the
bucket of "mahlo" which was always on the go in the house. (In less
politically correct times, this was known as "kaffir beer"). It was my
father's belief that not only was it very good for the stomach, but also
that it did not contain any alcohol.

Our housemasters beamed benignly when we made ginger beer: as you've
guessed, they weren't biology masters!

Franz

The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

When the berries are ripe they are perfectly edible, and are sweetish
and refreshing. Apart from the size of the plants and their fruits, I
can see no difference between black nightshade and 'garden
huckleberries', nor taste any.

IIRC there are two different plants commonly called huckleberry, and one
of them is indeed black nightshade or a variety of it. I grew it once,
but wasn't particularly enamoured of it. There's much nicer berries
around.

Both black nightshade and woody nightshade are Solanum, and isn't
Solanum melongela the aubergine?

Black nightshade is Solanum nigrum and woody nightshade is S. dulcamara.
Aubergines are horrid, nasty, pithy, flavourless things. Black
nightshade beats them by not being pithy.

Tomato is Lycopersicum esculentum, but I've completely forgotten what
the potato is.

It's a starchy tuber you get in greengrocers' shops.

HTH

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk exchange d.p. with p to
reply.

In article ,
Rusty Hinge wrote:
The message
from Kay Easton contains these words:

When the berries are ripe they are perfectly edible, and are sweetish
and refreshing. Apart from the size of the plants and their fruits, I
can see no difference between black nightshade and 'garden
huckleberries', nor taste any.

IIRC there are two different plants commonly called huckleberry, and one
of them is indeed black nightshade or a variety of it. I grew it once,
but wasn't particularly enamoured of it. There's much nicer berries
around.

Both black nightshade and woody nightshade are Solanum, and isn't
Solanum melongela the aubergine?

Black nightshade is Solanum nigrum and woody nightshade is S. dulcamara.
Aubergines are horrid, nasty, pithy, flavourless things. Black
nightshade beats them by not being pithy.

If you have eaten only UK supermarket aubergines, then you may well
have that impression. It is, however, mistaken.

The reason that I don't eat black nightshade, despite being fairly
adventurous, is that the Solanaceae are notorious for having plants
with some parts of some varieties at some stages of development
after some treatments that are edible and good, and the same plant
under other conditions causing permanent damage.

I have not yet seen a trustworthy description of the conditions
under which black nightshade is safe to eat, though I have seen a
fair number of statements that the cooked, ripe berry is. But none
of them were clear the exact species and/or variety (and it is a
VERY widespread species, so geographic strains or growing conditions
could be important).

Tomato is Lycopersicum esculentum, but I've completely forgotten what
the potato is.

It's a starchy tuber you get in greengrocers' shops.

It is also Solanum tuberosum, and is quite commonly grown in UK
gardens.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.