Poisonous Plants

Plants keep you alive only if you know exactly what you are looking at. Learn the dangerous plants and you avoid getting hurt.

Never eat a plant you have not identified with complete certainty. A photo match from this app is not certainty.

Plants hurt people in three ways:

• Eating. You swallow part of a poisonous plant.
• Touching. The plant irritates or burns your skin.
• Absorbing or breathing. The poison passes through your skin or you breathe it in.

Effects range from a mild rash to death.

How poisonous is this plant?

There is no simple answer, because:

• Some plants take a large amount to cause harm. Others kill with a small amount.
• The same plant carries more or less poison depending on where and how it grew.
• Every person handles toxins differently.
• Some people react strongly to one specific plant.

Myths that get people hurt

• "Eat what the animals eat." Some animals eat plants that are poisonous to people.
• "Boiling removes the poison." Boiling removes some poisons. Not all.
• "Red plants are poisonous." Some are. Many are not.

No single rule tells you a plant is safe. You have to learn the plants themselves.

Many poisonous plants look like edible plants.

• Poison hemlock looks a lot like wild carrot.
• Pokeweed leaves are edible when the plant first comes up, then turn poisonous as it grows.
• Mayapple fruit is edible only when ripe. The green fruit and every other part are poisonous.
• Potatoes and tomatoes are common foods, but their green parts are poisonous.

Some plants turn toxic as they wilt. Wilting black cherry leaves produce cyanide.

Some plants are poisonous raw and safe only after careful preparation. Jack-in-the-pulpit roots are poisonous unless they are thinly sliced and fully dried, which can take a year.

Learn plants before you need them. Use books, nature trails, botanical gardens, local markets, and people who know the area. Check more than one source. No single source has everything.

The safest rule: eat a plant only when you can identify it with absolute certainty and you know both its uses and its dangers.

When you do not know the local plants, avoid:

• All mushrooms. Mushroom identification has to be exact. Some mushrooms kill quickly, and some have no antidote. They can attack the stomach or the nervous system.
• Touching plants you do not need to touch.

If you are not sure, do not eat it.

Skin reactions are the most common plant problem outdoors. They can last a long time, spread when you scratch, and are especially dangerous near the eyes.

How it happens

Most of these plants carry an oil that gets on your skin when you brush against them. The oil also sticks to clothing, gear, and pets, and can spread to anyone who touches them. Heat and sweat make it worse. The rash can stay in one spot or spread across the body.

Never burn these plants. The smoke can harm your lungs and skin as much as the plant does.

Signs

Symptoms can show up hours or days later: burning, redness, itching, swelling, blisters.

What to do

1. Wash the skin with soap and cool water as soon as you can, ideally within minutes.
2. No water? Wipe the skin repeatedly with dirt or sand. Do not use dirt on blisters. It can break them open and cause infection.
3. Dry the area once the oil is off.
4. Wash clothing and gear that touched the plant.
5. Get medical help for a rash on the face, eyes, or genitals, a rash covering large areas, or any trouble breathing.

Plants that cause contact dermatitis

• Cowhage
• Poison ivy
• Poison oak
• Poison sumac
• Rengas tree
• Trumpet vine

Eating a poisonous plant can kill quickly. Do not eat any plant until you have identified it with certainty. Keep a log of every wild plant you eat.

Signs

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, slow heartbeat or slow breathing, headache, hallucinations, dry mouth, passing out, coma, death.

What to do

1. Call 911 if the person is passed out, having a seizure, or struggling to breathe.
2. Otherwise call Poison Control right away: 1-800-222-1222. It is free and open 24/7 in the US.
3. Remove any plant material still in the mouth.
4. Do not make the person vomit unless Poison Control tells you to.
5. Do not give saltwater.
6. Save a piece of the plant or take a photo. It helps them identify the poison.

Plants that cause ingestion poisoning

• Castor bean
• Chinaberry
• Death camas
• Lantana
• Manchineel
• Oleander
• Pangi
• Physic nut
• Poison hemlock and water hemlock
• Rosary pea
• Strychnine tree