I’ve been meaning to post this, took the photos a couple weeks ago. These photos are of Water Hemlock aka Cicuta maculate. It's still blooming, saw it today.
Experts classify it as one of the 5 most deadly plants in North America. They also claim it causes the most painful death of any plant in North America. (I wonder how they know that?)
Why would I put this in “Natural Remedies”? Simple, it is used as medicine. It’s an extremely powerful pain reliever, similar in strength to morphine. Even better, it’s not addictive. Of course, if you make a mistake in preparation or dosage, you’ll feel no pain forever. Again, an extremely dangerous plant… If you wish to learn to make a medicine from it and how it’s used, I urge you to find someone local who can teach you. This is not a plant to be learning about from you tub.
There are two other plants that are very similar and cause for concern, Elderberry and Hairy Angelica. The one that is cause for the most concern is Elderberry. Elderberry and water hemlock bloom at the same time. Sometimes they grow within feet of each other. Their blooms are similar, both in color and structure.
The leaves of all 3 species are pinnately compound with toothed edges, again, very similar. The leaves of all 3 species vary greatly from plant to plant, sometimes narrow and long, sometimes shorter and fatter. Sometimes the toothed edges are more pronounced, sometimes less so.
I and many other people harvest the blooms of elderberry to make tincture, wonderful for colds or the flu, a powerful antiviral. Elderberry thread… Elder
I avoided this problem for several years. Water hemlock always grows in swampy/boggy areas, never in dry areas. Elderberry will grow in the same locations but also grows in dry areas far from water. I only harvested elderberry blooms from plants in dry locations until I had enough experience with both species to be 100% sure of the identity of each.
Now for Hairy Angelica aka Angelica venosa… It’s in the same plant family as water hemlock and so similar in every respect that its spooky! The leaves, blooms, branches, even the coloration of the stems are almost identical. Even after I identified a patch of hairy angelica it was another couple of years before I would touch the plants without gloves. Hairy Angelica is also a natural remedy I posted about here…
Bo Hog Root
Hairy Angelica tends to bloom later than water hemlock by a month. Also, hairy angelica never grows in bogs.
Anyway, I thought Water Hemlock should be posted if for nothing else as a warning… those pretty white blooms beside the highway just might kill you!
Experts classify it as one of the 5 most deadly plants in North America. They also claim it causes the most painful death of any plant in North America. (I wonder how they know that?)
Why would I put this in “Natural Remedies”? Simple, it is used as medicine. It’s an extremely powerful pain reliever, similar in strength to morphine. Even better, it’s not addictive. Of course, if you make a mistake in preparation or dosage, you’ll feel no pain forever. Again, an extremely dangerous plant… If you wish to learn to make a medicine from it and how it’s used, I urge you to find someone local who can teach you. This is not a plant to be learning about from you tub.
There are two other plants that are very similar and cause for concern, Elderberry and Hairy Angelica. The one that is cause for the most concern is Elderberry. Elderberry and water hemlock bloom at the same time. Sometimes they grow within feet of each other. Their blooms are similar, both in color and structure.
The leaves of all 3 species are pinnately compound with toothed edges, again, very similar. The leaves of all 3 species vary greatly from plant to plant, sometimes narrow and long, sometimes shorter and fatter. Sometimes the toothed edges are more pronounced, sometimes less so.
I and many other people harvest the blooms of elderberry to make tincture, wonderful for colds or the flu, a powerful antiviral. Elderberry thread… Elder
I avoided this problem for several years. Water hemlock always grows in swampy/boggy areas, never in dry areas. Elderberry will grow in the same locations but also grows in dry areas far from water. I only harvested elderberry blooms from plants in dry locations until I had enough experience with both species to be 100% sure of the identity of each.
Now for Hairy Angelica aka Angelica venosa… It’s in the same plant family as water hemlock and so similar in every respect that its spooky! The leaves, blooms, branches, even the coloration of the stems are almost identical. Even after I identified a patch of hairy angelica it was another couple of years before I would touch the plants without gloves. Hairy Angelica is also a natural remedy I posted about here…
Bo Hog Root
Hairy Angelica tends to bloom later than water hemlock by a month. Also, hairy angelica never grows in bogs.
Anyway, I thought Water Hemlock should be posted if for nothing else as a warning… those pretty white blooms beside the highway just might kill you!
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