Lacy White Flowers: The Good, the Bad and the Deadly |
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Please use great caution around white lacy wildflowers!Some are friendly and beautiful (Cow Parsnip), some are beautiful and invasive (Queen Anne's Lace), and some are beautiful and invasive and deadly (the Hemlocks and Giant Hogweed)! Do not touch any of these plants unless you can positively identify them. Keep children and animals away from them. When it comes to white lacy wildflowers, KNOW YOUR PLANTS! The Good: Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) is a wonderful flowering perennial, excellent for the back of the flower bed. The lush, green leaves emerge in early spring, and are followed by flower stalks up to 5 feet tall. The blooms, 1 - 1 1/2 foot across, are a fabulous basis for flower arrangements (put one in the vase instead of a frog!), and the dried seed heads are excellent craft material--they look like big snowflakes. A most unusual addition to autumn decorations. (IMPORTANT: See note below.) The Bad: Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) has a sweet bloom, similar to the Cow Parsnip but much smaller, rarely reaching more than 5 inches across. Each bloom is really a group of clusters of tiny white flowers, each stem has a red heart right in the center of the bloom clusters. While this plant is not poisonous, it is invasive and extremely hard to eradicate due to the strong, deep taproot and the fact that the seeds are much like Velcro and stick to anything that brushes against them. Often they hitchhike in the fur of cats and dogs, sometimes burrowing deep into the pelt until they reach the skin. If left there they usually cause irritation and, ultimately, infection. However, this plant can be kept within bounds by simply picking the flowers! They are lovely when pressed or dried in a medium that will preserve their shape. If you add a few drops of food coloring to their water in a vase, the flowers will become tinted with the color. The Deadly: The Hemlocks--Poison Hemlock, Water Hemlock and Bulbiferous Hemlock (Conium maculatum, Cicuta maculata, Cicuta bulbifera respectively) and Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) are dangerous as well as invasive. All parts of these plants are extremely poisonous. The differences between them are shown below in the comparison chart. If plant is identified as one of the Hemlocks or Giant Hogweed, take care not to allow any part to touch skin and do not breath the pollen. Cover face and arms completely, wear gloves and dig or pull entire plant. Place immediately in plastic bags, tie securely closed and put into garbage can. Do not compost. Even dried, hemlock retains it's poisonous properties. In case of suspected Hemlock or Giant Hogweed poisoning, contact a poison control center and obtain emergency medical assistance as quickly as possible. Poisoning may result in severe seizures and convulsions that must be controlled to preserve normal ventilation and cardiovascular function. Death can occur in as little as 15 minutes after ingesting even a small part of the plant. |
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CAUTION: The 'juice' from Cow Parsnip leaves
and stems may sensitize the skin so that it is very easily
sunburned. Washing off the juice and wearing long sleeves for a few days
apparently is the ticket after exposure.
The umbilliferae of Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) contain furano-coumarins which, when exposed to sunlight, cause significant photo-toxic reactions (photosensitivity). One of the more common skin reactions to Cow parsnip, is the ‘weed eaters’ or ‘strimmers’ dermatitis. When string trimmers are used to clear long grass, components of weeds are usually mulched and scattered in all directions, often coating the legs and arms of the operator. The sap of the plants then gets on the skin, and, when exposed to sunlight, gives rise to a very characteristic rash which may be severe and persist for many months. For more information, please see the Telemedicine website at www.telemedicine.org/botanica/bot5.htm Our thanks to these excellent resources:
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