Jennifer Buckwalter, Age 11, Of Gary, Ind.,, for her question:
How can we tell the poisonous plants and berries?
Some of the most attractive weeds and wild berries are deadly dangerous to man and beast. Only an expert knows if and when a plant is poisonous, and he is not always certain. Yet every summer many silly non experts are tempted to taste strange plants and berries and become poisoned.
No sensible person is tempted to dine on mushrooms found growing in the damp and shady woods. These delicacies may turn out to be poisonous toadstools. Even an expert is not always surf whether they are safe, for some of the mushroom like fungi are non poisonous at certain times and poisonous at other times of their lives.
This same expert may tell you that several other plants are poisonous and non poisonous at certain seasons. If you wish to sample them, you must read all about their life histories and then go forth and study them growing in the wilds. After all this toil, without doubt you will decide to leave them alone, one and all.
The little mayapple weed carpets the woods with leafy green foliage and puts forth a small, round blossom of pinkish white. In the fall, the flower is replaced with a pale yellow berry. This strawberry flavored fruit is safe to eat. But the leaves, root and stems of the mayapple are poisonous. The greenery and dried hay of peppergrass, flax and certain mustards make fine fodder for cattle. But the seeds carry poisons. Sensible people refuse to sample all of these partly poisonous plants.
One of the most dangerous plants is the tall wild hemlock, topped with flat circles of fluffy flowers. Its frothy leaves have been mistaken for parsley, its roots have been mistaken for wild turnips and its seeds have been mistaken for anise. This enemy of the animal kingdom carries poisons in its stems and roots, seeds and leaves, and it has proved fatal to many peop1e and wild animals who have been tempted to taste it.
It is unwise to nibble or chew on the stalks, leaves or roots of any strange plant. It is too risky to chew strange seeds or berries. The pretty pokeveed bears a spike of glossy blue black berries, the European bittersweet is hung with clusters of shiny red berries and the nightshade bears small black berries. All these tempting fruits are loaded with poisons. Andy's sensible young readers, one and all, refuse to be tempted by any strange plant just in case it may be dangerous. It may come as a surprise to learn that some of our garden flowers carry poisons. It is dangerous to nibble on larkspur or lupine, on the climbing clematis and the waxy white christman rose, on actonites and foxgloves, on certain lilies and poppies. It is even more surprising to learn that the poisonous chemicals from some of these pretty flowers are used as valuable drugs by medical science.