Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#46
|
|||
|
|||
Poisonous plants
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:16:14 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:
I was just having a bit of a general grump about having to put toxicity warnings on all plants when there are so many ways a plant can harm you, that you are in danger of having a booklet sized label for them. IMHO, there's a real downside to overdoing the "poisonous plant" schtick as some of the earth-mother crowd are wont. Namely, by running around claiming that nearly every garden plant is "poisonous", you obscure the fact that some plants present genuine, serious hazards not to be sneezed at. Aconitum napellus, the common monkshood, is very poisonous, in the true sense of the word: it won't just give you a tummy ache if you ingest it: it can easily kill you. As long as you grow it in the perennial border, it probably doesn't present a real threat, but you don't want to grow it anywhere near a patch of Jerusalem artichokes because the roots of the two look too much alike. There are other Aconitum species that are even more poisonous, Aconitum ferox being so much so that knowledgable sorts won't even consider having it in their gardens. (Some of the fiercer natives of Myanmar and adjacent parts traditionally used it to poison their arrows.) If a booklet of "poisonous plants" runs into dozens or hundreds of common garden denizens, the genuine hazard presented by aconitum, among others, may be obscured by the presence of irrelevancies. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada [change "atlantic" to "pacific" and "invalid" to "net" to reply by email] |
#47
|
|||
|
|||
Poisonous plants
Rodger Whitlock17/4/04 1:53
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:16:14 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote: I was just having a bit of a general grump about having to put toxicity warnings on all plants when there are so many ways a plant can harm you, that you are in danger of having a booklet sized label for them. IMHO, there's a real downside to overdoing the "poisonous plant" schtick as some of the earth-mother crowd are wont. Namely, by running around claiming that nearly every garden plant is "poisonous", you obscure the fact that some plants present genuine, serious hazards not to be sneezed at. Yes but if nursery owners *don't* give a warning, they could be in trouble, even if all little Johnnie gets is a skin rash. ;-( Aconitum napellus, the common monkshood, is very poisonous, in the true sense of the word: it won't just give you a tummy ache if you ingest it: it can easily kill you. As long as you grow it in the perennial border, it probably doesn't present a real threat, but you don't want to grow it anywhere near a patch of Jerusalem artichokes because the roots of the two look too much alike. Shame because it's a handsome plant. snip -- Sacha (remove the weeds to email me) |
#48
|
|||
|
|||
Poisonous plants
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:16:14 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:
I was just having a bit of a general grump about having to put toxicity warnings on all plants when there are so many ways a plant can harm you, that you are in danger of having a booklet sized label for them. IMHO, there's a real downside to overdoing the "poisonous plant" schtick as some of the earth-mother crowd are wont. Namely, by running around claiming that nearly every garden plant is "poisonous", you obscure the fact that some plants present genuine, serious hazards not to be sneezed at. Aconitum napellus, the common monkshood, is very poisonous, in the true sense of the word: it won't just give you a tummy ache if you ingest it: it can easily kill you. As long as you grow it in the perennial border, it probably doesn't present a real threat, but you don't want to grow it anywhere near a patch of Jerusalem artichokes because the roots of the two look too much alike. There are other Aconitum species that are even more poisonous, Aconitum ferox being so much so that knowledgable sorts won't even consider having it in their gardens. (Some of the fiercer natives of Myanmar and adjacent parts traditionally used it to poison their arrows.) If a booklet of "poisonous plants" runs into dozens or hundreds of common garden denizens, the genuine hazard presented by aconitum, among others, may be obscured by the presence of irrelevancies. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada [change "atlantic" to "pacific" and "invalid" to "net" to reply by email] |
#49
|
|||
|
|||
Poisonous plants
Rodger Whitlock17/4/04 1:53
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:16:14 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote: I was just having a bit of a general grump about having to put toxicity warnings on all plants when there are so many ways a plant can harm you, that you are in danger of having a booklet sized label for them. IMHO, there's a real downside to overdoing the "poisonous plant" schtick as some of the earth-mother crowd are wont. Namely, by running around claiming that nearly every garden plant is "poisonous", you obscure the fact that some plants present genuine, serious hazards not to be sneezed at. Yes but if nursery owners *don't* give a warning, they could be in trouble, even if all little Johnnie gets is a skin rash. ;-( Aconitum napellus, the common monkshood, is very poisonous, in the true sense of the word: it won't just give you a tummy ache if you ingest it: it can easily kill you. As long as you grow it in the perennial border, it probably doesn't present a real threat, but you don't want to grow it anywhere near a patch of Jerusalem artichokes because the roots of the two look too much alike. Shame because it's a handsome plant. snip -- Sacha (remove the weeds to email me) |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
X-post: Poisonous plants and childcare | Australia | |||
poisonous plants | United Kingdom | |||
list of poisonous plants | United Kingdom | |||
poisonous plants & seeds | Ponds | |||
Poisonous (?) plants | Gardening |