Crow Poison

doris_mi5

17 years ago

Another pretty flower but what a name.

JoanMN

17 years ago

Never heard of it. Sure is pretty.
JoanMN/FL

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I grow many aconitums and am alarmed by this alarmist talk of alarmingly poisonous plants (which, in my garden would probably be nearly all of them). You do not need to avoid planting it and by all accounts, the hugely poisonous attributes of aconitum are more likely mythic rather than factual....but hey, here's a bit about it from the 'Poison Garden' at Alnwick Castle How Poisonous, How Harmful? The principal alkaloids are aconite and aconitine. Of these aconitine is thought to be the key toxin. Ingestion of even a small amount results in severe gastrointestinal upset but it is the effect on the heart, where it causes slowing of the heart rate, which is often the cause of death. The poison may be administered by absorption through broken skin or open wounds and there are reports of florists being unwell after working with the flowers but there are no documented cases. Its distinctive taste makes it unpleasant to eat so accidental poisoning is extremely rare but not unknown. The taste is described as initially very bitter followed by a burning sensation and, then, a numbing of the mouth. Incidents In July 2014, I was contacted by someone whose small terrier had died after eating some of the root. The dog had buried a bone at the base of the plant and is thought to have scratched at the root when retrieving it. It is not clear whether the owner had bought the plant from somewhere other than an HTA member garden centre or whether the warning required by the HTA list of potentially harmful plants had proved inadequate. A rising young Canadian actor, Andre Noble, accidentally ate monkshood on 30th July 2004 whilst on a camping trip. He is said to have believed he was eating wild parsnip. Until recently, the only well established case of murder with aconitine was in 1881 when Dr. Lamson used it to poison his brother-in-law after putting it in the newly invented soluble capsules for taking medicine without having to taste it. The 'yuck' inducing details of how Dr. Lamson was convicted form one of the highlights of the Medical Murderers talk. In February 2010, Lakhvir Singh was convicted of the murder of her lover, Lakhvinder Cheema, who died after eating a curry to which Ms Singh had added the extract of Aconitum ferox, known as Indian monkshood or Himalayan monkshood. His new fiancée, with whom he shared the meal, became very ill but recovered. Media reports have described the poisoning agent as aconitine but the primary alkaloid in Aconitum ferox is pseudoaconitine, sometimes called Indian aconite. Gurjeet Choongh, who survived the poisoning, told the court that Mr Cheema said that he felt numb and 'everything was going dark'. Mr Choongh, who ate less of the leftover curry, later began experiencing similar feelings as well as abdominal pain. The two were treated in hospital but it was not possible to save Cheema. Both experienced severe vomiting and the tachycardia expected in Aconitum poisoning but no aconitine was found. One of those involved in the case had read an 1845 publication about Aconitum napellus that had mentioned 'far-eastern' species and noted that these might have different effects. When an herbal remedy was found in the killer's possession, tests showed that it contained pseudaconitine and this alkaloid was also found in the victims. Aconitum napellus, monkshood Aconitum napellus, monkshood Again in February 2010, a case was reported from India of a 62-year old man given a herbal remedy for diarrhoea who suffered severe heart problems. Analysis showed that the remedy contained roots from an unidentified species of Aconitum. In 1996, a 61 year old man died after eating the leaves of Aconitum thinking it was an edible grass. The 2002 annual meeting of the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology heard a case report of a 36-year old man who ate an estimated 30gms of crushed root, believing it would reduce his neuropathic pain. He had heart palpitations and chest discomfort but no vomiting. He recovered after 24 hours of treatment to control ventricular tachycardia. The fact that such a large dose can have such a relatively small effect illustrates the difficulty of answering the question 'How much would it take to kill?' when applied to any poisonous plant. In 2005, a 21-year old man made up his own capsules of crushed Aconitum root which, he believed, would work as 'natural' sleeping tablets. He suffered all the classic symptoms of monkshood poisoning but recovered after two days in the hospital ICU. A couple thought it looked so lovely they planted it to brighten up their herb garden. When the wife picked a herb leaf salad she, accidentally, included some leaves from the monkshood and both suffered severe stomach upsets lasting two days. These last two prove a point which was contentious for a long time. Many people said that it was only the root which was poisonous and not the leaves. Even today, it is possible to find poison plant listings that say the root is the only toxic part. William Rhind was a 19th century Scot who trained and practiced as a doctor before turning his attention to studying and writing about natural history in all its forms. In his ‘History of the Vegetable Kingdom’ he cites a case in Sweden, though without giving a date, where a man exhibited maniacal symptoms after eating fresh leaves of the monkshood. A doctor, summoned to assist him, expressed the view that the plant could not be the cause of his disorder since it was only the root which was toxic and ate freely of the leaves to prove his point. He died in dreadful agony.

Winter Sowing in the MIDDLE zones: 5, 6, and 7 (native seed list)

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Hell Strips 2015

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There's not as much red as you see in the photo most of the time. It was just one of those weirdly lit evenings. It reminded me of a moment from my youth when I looked out into the backyard after a tornado had passed close by. My dad was standing out by the fence looking at the sky and everything looked like I was wearing pink sunglasses. He was only about 35 at the time and it's a memory that really sticks in my mind as something rare and transcendent. Remind me which one is the M. riverchonii? I planted three this year that I think I will need to move a bit in the spring. I get the sense that they have a larger spread than whatever site I was looking at said they did. Marie, what you say about the red in the Gro-Low is exactly right. It's almost buried right now by the oak leaves from the neighbor's yard and I don't notice it unless I'm really up close. All those grasses I've got around it are keeping the leaves from blowing on down the street. We'll see if it still has color when most of the leaves are down and I do another raking. Such a beautiful palette in your yard, TR2, especially in that second photo.

Of course, bulbs are on sale now for 40% and I have 11.5 inches of

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Actually I can think of a number of bulbs that grow in wet areas (camas or quamash, and deathcamass (not related), crow poison). And that's just what my brain came up with at 3 am and native to my area. Point of fact, Nothoscordum bivalve (crow poison) grew in the mud in my yard in Oklahoma...water oozed out of the lawn from Dec till late June due to springs. This is an 'I think' but I think it's true, most of the mold you see on bulbs are because of mechanical damage to the bulb and usually just on the outer edges. Lilies are very prone to this, because of the high sugar content, and the mold is usually a penicillin type on them. Also in ground, besides not being mechanically abused, the natural soil biome seems to prevent this. Obviously, they can rot just like a potato can as well. Improper storage is probably the major cause. They got too cold or too hot, too moist because of being in a heap (esp if one rots, it affects all surrounding).

kentuck_8b
Original Author

17 years ago

Thank you all!

This little flower is even smaller than the yellow one that I posted a picture of. They are about a centimeter in diameter but grow up to a foot tall.

Kt

Crow Poison

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doris_mi5

JoanMN

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Crow Poison

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doris_mi5

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