Plants in the News

[David Pilling]

I will grow it - get rid of ne'er-do-wells from the property - what could possibly go wrong. Now the do-gooders have made giant hogweed notifiable...

[Diane Whitehead]

Is the Poison Garden just a curiosity to attract paying visitors, or are some of the plants used for serious research - like antidotes to poisons?

[David Pilling]

Diane - I think it is just the fear factor, people like being scared and may not realise the properties of plants.

https://www.alnwickgarden.com/the-garden/poison-garden/

"Do you dare to enter?
The Alnwick Garden plays host to the small but deadly Poison Garden—filled exclusively with around 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants. The boundaries of the Poison Garden are kept behind black iron gates, only open on guided tours.

Visitors are strictly prohibited from smelling, touching, or tasting any plants, although some people still occasionally faint from inhaling toxic fumes while walking in the garden.

Entry to The Poison Garden is included with your day ticket."

Placebo effect enabled there.

[Judy Glattstein]

Two different corpse flowers blooming in San Francisco, one now and the other two years ago. The older one is a more amusing article.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/05/corpse-flower-san-francisco-bloom-pungent-smell

and

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/19/corpse-flower-san-francisco-bay-area

[Robin Hansen]

I'm sure this flower (Amorphallum) has its attractions but dividing Thalictrums provides me with a rotten-enough smell that I don't need to search for any more! As a design of mother nature though, it is exquisite in form.

[David Pilling]

Climate change: Could a Daffodil diet for livestock help save climate?

"Scientists from Scotland's Rural College have successfully extracted a chemical from the flower called Haemanthamine.

In the laboratory, using an artificial cow's stomach, they showed it could reduce emissions by 30% when added to feed."


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66147726

Please note that daffodils are highly poisonous to people and you should not eat them.

[Judy Glattstein]

Deer and rabbits don't eat daffodils, nor do horses. That's above ground. Haven't noticed underground consumption which I assume would be voles.

During the Hunger Winter of WWII the Dutch ate tulip bulbs but never daffodils.

[David Pilling]

By now the story has been part of a BBC TV program "Countryfile" - it's only a chemical extracted from daffodils they feed to the cows.

Experiments are now under way. The gas comes out the front end, so measurements just require a gas mask.

An expert on the show said that it was an example of 'greenwashing' and that nothing short of a complete abandonment of live stock farming and reforestation of the land used would do.

[David Pilling]

Hemlock: Anger after poisonous plant found near Bucklesham school

"The head teacher of Bucklesham Primary School in Suffolk said pupils had to walk in the road to avoid the hemlock, which can be fatal if ingested.

A village parish councillor warned "children's lives are at stake" and called for the plant's urgent removal.

Suffolk County Council said Monday was the earliest it was able to clear the path because a road closure was needed."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-66136682

[Diane Whitehead]

Are they just going to cut it down and leave it there for the seeds to drop?

Conium maculatum only lasts one year, so if it isn't allowed to drop seeds, it can be eliminated from an area in a short time.

[David Pilling]

Are they just going to cut it down and leave it there for the seeds to drop?

Not clear from the story, but you make a good point.

They've done a follow up article:

The dangerous plants lurking in plain sight
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-66154244

However, daffodils, yew, rhubarb leaves, green potatoes. Any trees that might fall on you. All the plants with thorns.


Edited three weeks later - this has been debunked:

Hemlock is not a big threat to school children – crumbling pavements and busy roads are

https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2023/07/hemlock-is-not-a-big-threat-to-school-children-crumbling-pavements-and-busy-roads-are/

[Diane Whitehead]

Of course, a poisonous plant needs to be attractive to cause children to eat it.  One with brightly coloured berries would be more deadly than Conium.

[Judy Glattstein]

Gardening Can Be Murder by Marta McDowell will be released by Timber Press in September. She has written another interesting, easy to read book with a focus on other authors fiction where gardening plays a lethal role. Such as rhubarb leaves, green potatoes, and more.

[David Pilling]

Gardening Can Be Murder by Marta McDowell will be released by Timber Press in September.

There are reviews. Interesting how books come out before they are printed these days - on Kindle etc.

Many an episode of Midsomer Murders has started with a view of wolfsbane/monkshood/aconitum napellus - and I do see it around, worryingly in neighbour's gardens.

[fierycloud]

The human panthogeon in the garden soil or plants an animal remains seem to be more danger than most garden and wild plants. Though the visitors of the garden which are Homo Sapiens might share more zoonoses than the other animals visitors  and even invading wild plants in the garden.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/health-and-wellbeing/minimising-health-risks-in-the-garden.