After seeing a (nicely illustrated) list of the "twenty deadliest plants" (oleander, dieffenbachia, deadly nightshade, jimson weed, angel's trumpet, aconitum x2, yew, snakeroot, water hemlock, moonseed, privet, poison ivy, jasmine, larkspur, hyacinth, hemlock, daphne, castor oil plant, doll's eyes [photo above], and foxglove), I asked my wife how many of these we have in our garden. Apparently we have 7 or 8 of the 20.
I think I'll have the pasta tonight. No salad, thank you.
These thoughts prompted by a BBC report today that a celebrity chef accidentally recommended the use of a poisonous plant in a recipe. Writing in Health and Organic Living magazine (!!), he suggested that henbane was "great for salads." He had meant to write "fat hen" - a wild herb.
Henbane - Hyoscyamus niger - has sticky serrated leaves, yellow, funnel-shaped flowers and a stale scent.
Its name has Anglo-Saxon origins - meaning killer of hens - and it can cause hallucinations, drowsiness and disorientation in humans.
Larger quantities can cause a loss of consciousness, seizures, trembling of the limbs and, in extreme cases, death.
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