 |
| Hemlock Water Dropwort. Photo. John M Elliott |
Providing a fine show just in time for this year's Open Gardens are the white umbels of Hemlock Water Dropwort all along the South Winterborne. This, Britain;s deadliest plant, is flourishing in the village as a result of the riperian owner's; 'gardening' efforts in the name of flood prevention. Last year a lamb was poisoned in the village -thankfully it recovered - but a few years ago a Dorchester dog had to be put down after eating the roots.
Writing in the Gaurdian's Country Diary recently Jim Perrin remembers a Welsh instance, this time of human poisonning.
Harlech, Gwynedd The path climbs slate steps before slanting left through oakwoods alive with the song of warblers.A long climbing traverse with views of Yr Wyddfa lures you on, takes you to the wood's boundary. I lean against a wall, look around, and down to my right in a moist ditch see a plant of which all who venture into the Welsh countryside should be very wary.
Its an umbellifer, less tall than hogweed. I check out crucial detail. White flower-clustersare already present. Stems are hairless and hollow, lacking purple blotches low down that would identify this specimen as Conium maculafum (hemlock). It's Oenanthe crocata, hemlockwater dropwort, deadliest of all British plants, every part of it very poisonous. A memberof the carrot family, it has pale, tuberous roots - dead man’s finger. Foragers beware! I first encountered it when I lived in Cwm Pennant in the mid-1970s. Three friends who rented the small cottage of Tanygraig used to call for tea at my house up-the valley. They were pleasant idealists, committed to an alternative lifestyle, living as much as possible off the land. They gathered some of those-tubers from the riverbank, grated them into a salad, served it up with sorrel and dandelion and ate it with home-baked bread. Later that evening they fell violently ill. All three were taken to hospital in Bangor.
No comments:
Post a Comment