Last week I received a call from a lady who had a weed growing in her backyard that she couldn’t identify. Her neighbors had told her it was dangerous and that she should burn it. She wanted to check in with Extension before she did anything.
I wanted to see for myself what it was. I had a guess after she told me it had white flower clusters and she lived on the river. I drove over to the Lakeshore area where her backyard was waterfront.
The view was beautiful, and I watched a bald eagle soar overhead as I walked the property. Then I saw the pretty white flower clusters sticking out over the assorted grasses and forbes that made up her yard. I was afraid she might have a stand of water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) but I was still unsure.
I looked closer and saw that the stems had purple streaks and the leaves were alternately placed along the stem. I had brought my gloves and pruners with me to cut into a stem. It was hollow inside.
That’s when I knew it was water hemlock. Water hemlock is one of the deadliest plants in the world. It is a cousin to the poison hemlock that did in Socrates.
All parts of the plant are toxic and contain a chemical called cicutoxin. Within 30-60 minutes of ingestion, a person will experience nausea, vomiting, tremors, cramps and convulsions. The most poisonous part of the plant is the root.
In 1992, a 23-year-old man and his brother were out foraging for wild ginseng root in Maine. He collected and ate 3 bites of water hemlock root by mistake. De.
