Читать книгу The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - Various - Страница 199

A number of plants contain so powerful a poison that we should take especial care to avoid them. As the danger may be better avoided by a general knowledge of these plants, a detailed description of them is highly desirable. Many of them are also important medicinal plants; and we should therefore by no means regret the existence of these poisonous growths; for, if we apply them to their proper uses, they serve to supply us with valuable medical aids.

Darnell (Lolium temulentum) is from eighteen to thirty-six inches high, and often found in cornfields. Its seeds contain a poison, which is narcotic and stupefying.

Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna) is common in the woods. The sappy stem is from three to six feet high; the egg-shaped leaves are covered with down; the brownish-red blossoms are arranged solitary in the axils of the leaves. The bright black berry is as large as a cherry. The nightshade is our most dangerous poisonous plant, and there is little hope for children who have eaten of its berries. From the fresh leaves atropine is prepared, which is a very powerful remedy in certain diseases of the eye.

Black Hellebore (Helleborus niger) blooms in December, January and February, and is a native of the mountainous woods of South Germany and Austria. The black root, which is white inside, is poisonous.

Fool’s Parsley or Dog’s Parsley (Aethusa Cynapium) is a common weed, growing in gardens, fields, and also on rubbish. It is easily mistaken for parsley. As it is very poisonous, it is well to remember that it can be easily recognized by three long pendent floral leaves on solitary umbels; the leaves are odorless, and only when crushed emit a faint, garlic-like scent.

Hellebore (H. viridis and H. fœtidus) is also rightly described as a poisonous plant. One species is used for killing lice and vermin on cattle, horses, and other live stock.

Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) grows on rubbish and waste ground. The entire plant is covered with sticky hairs, and has a repulsive odor. The stem is about thirteen inches high; the longish leaves are widely serrated; the flowers are pale yellow, streaked with dark-violet veins; the fruit is a capsule, which opens with a spring lid. The henbane is also a dangerous, poisonous plant, but its leaves and seeds supply an important medicine.

Herb-Paris (Paris quadrifolia) grows in hedges and shady woods. On its upright stem there are four oval leaves. It has never more than one blossom, consisting of greenish-yellow petals, eight stamens, and one pistil. Its fruit is a dark blue, round berry, which ripens in July and August. The latter when eaten causes diarrhœa, convulsions and other disturbances.

Marsh Crow’s-Foot (Ranunculus sceleratus) grows in ditches and marshes. The upright branching stem is from twelve to eighteen inches high; the leaves are divided in the shape of a hand, and the blossoms are small and yellow. The marsh crow’s-foot contains very poisonous juices, which cause blisters and ulcers to rise on the skin, and when taken inwardly nearly always cause death. The other species of crow’s-foot found in meadows, fields, woods, etc., are also more or less poisonous.

Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale) is a bulbous plant, which blooms in dry meadows in September and October. The flesh-colored blossoms appear in the autumn, and leaves are thrown up in the following spring; between the leaves are large capsules, each containing numerous seeds. The seeds and the bulbous root contain poison, and the former are used in medicine.

Mezereon (Daphne Mezereum) grows solitary in the woods. It is a tough plant, from one to three feet high; the lanceolate leaves are arranged in tufts at the end of the shoots; the rose-colored blossoms appear before the leaves, and are generally situated in clusters of three on the branches; the fruit is a red stone-fruit. The whole plant is poisonous; a medicine is prepared from the bark.

Purple Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a common wild flower, and grows to a height of fifty inches. The longish leaves are felt-like, and the large purple flowers stand in a cluster; the fruit is a capsule. The purple foxglove is poisonous, and its leaves are used in medicine.

Spotted Hemlock (Conium maculatum) grows upon rubbish, hedges, fences, and highways. The stem is three to six feet high, marked with blue and bluish-red spots; the leaves are tripennate; the white blossoms also stand in flat umbels. The leaves when bruised emit a very peculiar mouse-like odor which is very noticeable on hot summer days. The root, especially, is poisonous, and when eaten causes the most fatal consequences. Hemlock is a powerful sedative, and is used medicinally.

Thorn Apple (Datura Stamonium) originally came from the East Indies, but is now widely spread, growing on rubbish and in gardens. Never more than a few plants are found. Its forked stem is from eighteen inches to three feet high; the petiolate leaves are widely serrated; the large blossoms are a pure white; the fruit resembles the horse chestnut, and contains numerous black seeds. The thorn apple has a very repulsive odor, a disagreeable flavor, and is poisonous in all parts. The leaves and seeds are used in medicines.

Water Hemlock (Cicuta virosa), is very common in many localities on the banks of streams, ditches, and in flooded fields; in other localities it is rare. The thick, fleshy root is hollow, and divided in the interior into sections; the upright stem is hollow and smooth; the leaves are tripennate; the small white blossoms are arranged in umbels of ten or more rays. The poison is chiefly contained in the red root, which, when eaten by children, who mistake it for an edible root, nearly always causes death, unless medical aid is immediately at hand. The other parts of the plant also contain a poison, which is so strong that its odor alone will produce headache and giddiness.

Wolf’s-Bane or Monk’s-Hood (Aconitum Lycotonum) is a rare plant from eighteen inches to three feet high; the leaves are shaped like a hand, with three, five or seven lobes. The blossom is yellow. The wolf’s-bane contains a virulent poison, especially in the root and in the seeds. This description also applies to the Aconitum Napellus, which is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens; its tubers are used medicinally.