Part 2

Actaea rubra and Actaea alba--RANUNCULACEAE]

=Description=: The red and white baneberries are perennial herbs found in woodlands and occasionally as showy plants in gardens. Leaves are large on many branches and resemble those of the wildcurrant. The small flowers are white in spring. Plants generally grow about 1 to 2 feet in height. The attractive parts are the red or white berries which develop during summer and early autumn. They are in clusters on terminal flower stalks, each on a conspicuous short fleshy pedicel. Children have been poisoned by eating the berries.

=Poisonous Parts=: The root stock, sap, and berries. These produce marked irritation of the stomach and intestines causing nausea and violent purgation. If absorbed, the acrid principles can affect the heart, increase the pulse rate, and cause dizziness. Fatalities have been reported.

=Antidote=: Call your doctor. Have patient vomit. Physicians perform gastric lavage and treat gastric inflammation and circulatory failure.

BITTERSWEET

Solanum dulcamara--SOLANACEAE]

=Description=: A woody climbing or reclining herb with slender stems and dark green pointed leaves which may be purplish-green when young. Clusters of white or purplish-white flowers borne on a 5-pointed, wheel-shaped base (calyx). During summer and early fall, fruits become attractive berries, bright red to scarlet, and are scattered in clusters. They remain when leaves fall.

This weed is found in numerous areas, such as on dumps, along fence walls, and generally in moist, rich soil conditions. It is a common weed in many gardens, near dwellings or in fields, and is related to the black and deadly nightshades.

NOTE. The black nightshade, American bittersweet or poison berry (Solarium nigrum-SOLANACEAE) closely resembles the European bittersweet, excepting the berries which are purple or black. It contains the same poisonous principles.

=Poisonous Parts=: Chiefly the leaves and unripe fruits. The red berries (black berries of the black nightshade) can be poisonous if several are eaten. The plant contains =solanine=, =dulcamarin=, and similar principles which are related to the alkaloids of the deadly nightshade. Poisoning is characterized by burning in the throat, nausea, dizziness, dilation of eye pupils, convulsions, and general muscular weakness.

=Antidote=: Call your doctor. Have patient vomit. Physicians treat for alkaloids, as in atropine poisoning.

BLOODROOT

Sanguinaria canadensis--PAPAVERACEAE]

=Description=: Perennial, low-growing herbs which appear early in spring in shady, moist wooded areas. The many-petaled, white flower frequently develops first on a stalk wrapped with a single large-lobed leaf. The large underground stem (rhizome) and smaller roots of the bloodroot contain an orange to red juice from which the plant gets its name. This is poisonous.

=Poisonous Parts=: The underground stems, roots, and their red contents. These contain several toxic alkaloids, chiefly =sanguinarine=, which irritate the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, and stomach causing intense burning, nausea, and vomiting. If absorbed, the alkaloids can affect the nervous system, depress the heart, cause coma, and produce temporary paralysis.

=Antidote=: Call your doctor. Have patient vomit, and then give warm milk. Physicians perform gastric lavage and treat irritated gastro-intestinal tract. In the event that much of the root material has been ingested and absorbed, measures should be taken to prevent circulatory collapse.

CASTOR BEAN

Ricinus communis--EUPHORBIACEAE]

=Description=: There are many varieties of the castor bean plant growing in gardens and greenhouses. The plant is cultivated commercially in southern climates for the castor oil produced by the seeds. It grows to 8 feet or more in height with large showy palm like, dark green leaves on long stalks.

Flowers are not very attractive but the clusters of soft spiny fruits which form in late summer and early fall, split open to yield very attractively marked shiny seeds. These possess variegated white to brown and black striations and are shaped somewhat like the tick insect. Because of the attractive appearance, they become playthings for children.

=Poisonous Parts=: The beans or seeds contain the toxic substances =ricin= and =ricinine=. =Ricin= is exceedingly poisonous due to its irritant action which causes nausea, vomiting, intestinal cramps, stupor, and sometimes convulsions and circulatory collapse several hours after seeds are ingested. =Ricin= may produce hemolysis.

=Antidote=: Call your doctor. Have patient vomit. Physicians perform gastric lavage and maintain fluid and electrolyte balance and employ symptomatic measures.

CHRISTMAS ROSE

Helleborus niger--RANUNCULACEAE]

=Description=: In warmer climates, the large blossoms of this plant appear in midwinter, hence, the common name Christmas rose. However, these develop much earlier in fall or later in spring in New England and other northern areas.

The plant is a perennial evergreen herb with a black underground stem and roots. Each year a single palmately divided leaf and flower stalk form, the latter with one or two large purplish-white flowers, each with five petals and a yellow center whorl of flower parts. Found in gardens usually as a cultivated plant.

=Poisonous Parts=: An intensely irritating glycoside principle, =helleborein=, has been found in the leaves and roots. This probably accounts for much of the skin inflammation caused on contact with bruised parts or the juice of this plant. Other poisonous glycosides and alkaloids which affect the heart (similar to the effects of digitalis) and nervous system (as from aconite) are also present. If ingested, the plant may cause vomiting, tingling and numbing sensations in the mouth, and violent purgation.

=Antidote=: Call your doctor. Wash the skin at once with soap and water if the juice of the plant is in contact with it. Have patient vomit if any part has been eaten. Physicians treat for dermatitis and vesication if a contact poisoning. When there is evidence of much ingestion treat for =digitalis= or =aconitine= poisoning, depending upon symptoms.