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HomeSafeHome:  Warning- Warning - Poison Hemlock!!!  |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 8:27:54 PM
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I'm not sure if this is the right category for this post, but I wanted to alert you all to something I just realized.
Evidently the last two years have been pretty favorable for expansion of the range of poison hemlock. That is the plant that they used to execute Socrates, and it is a very toxic poison if ingested by humans or livestock.
I read an article in Ohio Farmer about this and realized that the picture in the article looked like some of the plants I drive by on my way to work.
I had noticed these plants recently because they look like GIANT dill plants from my car, and I had been meaning to stop and taste/smell them to see if they were actually wild dill plants.
Boy am I glad I read this article first! It turns out that they really are poison hemlock, and if I had actually tasted them you would not be reading this today, as I would either be dead or in the hospital.
You can identify the plant by its smooth, hollow stem and the purple blotches on the stem (legend says it is the blood of Socrates). The leaves are lacy and the flowers look like dill or Queen Ann's Lace.
Be careful out there!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 10:32:42 PM
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Thanks for the heads up! I think I have seen poison hemlock and I might even have some in my yard! I always thought it was a tree so I wasn't looking for a smaller plant!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 05:45:12 AM
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Gosh, Brenda! I'm glad that you resisted stopping by to taste the plants. I've seen poison hemlock before and never realized what it was. Now I know, and I will admire it from afar!! Thanks. :)
Karin
Farmgirl Sister
# 18 :)
Wherever you go, there you are.
www.madrekarin.blogspot.com
www.madrekarin.etsy.com |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
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Carrie W
Farmgirl Legend/Chapter Guru
437 Posts
Saratoga Springs
New York
USA
437 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 12:15:02 PM
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Thanks for the heads up,Brenda! I will be on the look out. I've been growing herbs and so I tend to taste stuff, too, to see which one it is. I didn't know this was bushy thing, always thought it was a tree.
Scary thing thinking you might have tasted it!
Carrie
www.totallykadeshfarm.blogspot.com
Farmgirl Sisterhood #147
Tis better to weep at joy than to joy at weeping--Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2008 : 12:21:03 PM
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Ever since you've posted this, Brenda, I've been looking for it all over!! I thought maybe I saw some in the lower, wilder portion of the yard but I'm still not sure. Won't eat it though :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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pamcook
True Blue Farmgirl
228 Posts
Pam
Chapel Hill
NC
USA
228 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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nampafarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
494 Posts
Kim
Nampa
ID
USA
494 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2009 : 2:05:50 PM
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thanks for the heads up. I saw this in my pasture area last night, where to goats run. However they have been cooped up lately due to all the rain we have had. I will be irradicating tonight!
Kim
Farmgirl Sister # 302 |
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Wildcrafter
True Blue Farmgirl
340 Posts
Suzanne
Seattle
WA
USA
340 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 2:44:46 PM
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I always tell my apprentices to be absolutely sure of the identification of a plant before putting any of it in their mouths.
The poison hemlock is one I point out to students every single year. Very Very poisonous. I will not harvest anything that grows near it either especially when the plant sets it's seeds. One time, the ex and I were picking blackberries and I noticed there were little seeds in his bowl and asked him to show me where he was picking. Poison hemlock all over and dropping their seeds on the berries! We emptied our bowls and left for safer stands.
If I had not noticed the seeds and went ahead and made the jam, which was destined to be given away.....we could have killed people.
You really have to be careful and know what you're picking.
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I woke up on January 1st and it was 2009.
And it's been that way ever since!
www.goodnaturedearthling.com
Cedar Mountain Herb School
http://goodnaturedearthling.wordpress.com/
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Meadowflower
Farmgirl in Training
25 Posts
Lisa
Harrisburg
Pa
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2009 : 3:05:50 PM
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Wow I've seen what has looked like this stuff before (everywhere!) I thought it was related somehow to Queen Anne's lace, which to me looks very similar - tall, weedy, white flowered sections...I will pay attention to that next time I see what looks like it might be this plant.
*~Lisa~*
Twitter: @mflowerfarm
My little farm blog: http://meadowflowerfarm.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - Meadowflower on Jun 18 2009 3:17:45 PM |
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HomeSafeHome: Warning- Warning - Poison Hemlock!!! |
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Warning- Warning - Poison Hemlock!!!
