PART 2
Plants basically poison on contact, ingestion, or by absorption or inhalation. They cause painful skin irritations upon contact, they cause internal poisoning when eaten, and they poison through skin absorption or inhalation in respiratory system. Many edible plants have deadly relatives and look-alikes. Positive identification of edible plants will eliminate the danger of accidental poisoning. There is no room for experimentation where plants are concerned, especially in unfamiliar territory.
Plant poisoning ranges from minor irritation to death. A common question asked is, “How poisonous is this plant?” It is difficult to say how poisonous plants are because—
• Some plants require contact with a large amount of the plant before noticing any adverse reaction while others cause death with only a small amount.
• Every plant will vary in the amount of toxins it contains due to different growing conditions and slight variations in subspecies.
• Every person has a different level of resistance to toxic substances.
• Some persons may be more sensitive to a particular plant.
Some common misconceptions about poisonous plants are—
• Watch the animals eat and what they eat. Most of the time this statement is true, but some animals can eat plants that are poisonous to humans.
• Boil the plant in water and any poisons will be removed. Boiling removes many poisons, but not all.
• Plants with a red color are poisonous. Some plants that are red are poisonous, but not all.
Your best policy is to be able to look at a plant and identify it with absolute certainty and to know its uses or dangers. Many times this is not possible. If you have little or no knowledge of the local vegetation, use the rules to select plants for the “Universal Edibility Test” (see Appendix). Remember, avoid—
• All mushrooms. Mushroom identification is very difficult and must be precise, even more so than with other plants. Some mushrooms cause death very quickly. Some mushrooms have no known antidote. Two general types of mushroom poisoning are gastrointestinal and central nervous system.
• Contact with or touching plants unnecessarily.