Post by whisker on Jul 28, 2011 5:29:09 GMT
Deadly hemlock plants are sprouting to record sizes in Britain’s towns and cities, prompting experts to issue a warning.
The long spell of hot weather and recent heavy rainfall has seen some specimens grow up to nine feet tall.
Regularly used to dispatch murder victims in fiction, hemlock contains alkaloids which attack the nervous system, causing paralysis, breathing difficulties and then death. Just six leaves can be fatal.
Sprouting up: Hemlock is reaching record sizes because of the weather, forcing a warning because of its deadly properties
The plants have green leaves flecked with red marks and have small white flowers.
They are a member of the parsley family and look similar to the harmless cow variety.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Their poison causes them to emit a foul smell, which botanists have compared to the odour of mouse urine.
HEMLOCK FACTFILE
In Ancient Greece, hemlock was used to kill condemned prisoners, most famously the philosopher Socrates in 399BC.
Its botanical name Conium maculatum comes from the Greek word ‘konas’ meaning to whirl around, because it causes trembling before death.
In Agatha Christie’s murder mystery Five Little Pigs, (1943), the painter Amyas Crale is killed when he is given a hemlock-laced beer to drink.
Some birds do not get poisoned by hemlock, such as larks and quails. But by eating it, they become just as poisonous as the plant.
Due to its sedative properties, Greek and Persian physicians used it to treat arthritis. But they had to stop as it was so easy to give too much and kill people.
The name hemlock comes from the Anglo-Saxons, who also used it in their medicine, and it means ‘shore plant’.
An old English legend had it the purple streaks on the stem represented the brand on Cain’s brow after he had murdered his brother Abel in the Old Testament.
Normally reaching heights of between three and six feet, some seen on roadside verges and waste-ground have been much higher.
Dominic Price, of the charity Plantlife, said: ‘The combination of the heat and damp in the last few weeks has helped this to become a fantastic year for hemlock.
‘They have the ability to grow big and this year’s weather means many of the plants are reaching record sizes.
‘They thrive on polluted road verges and on disturbed waste ground, two habitats which we have created in abundance over recent decades.’
He warned: ‘Anyone that touches hemlock should wash their hands immediately’.
Both the hemlock plant, and its sister plant the hemlock water-dropwort, which grows in wet areas such as riverbanks, are deadly.
Barry Phillips of the Royal Horticultural Society said: ‘People who go out foraging should be very careful of eating any plants they don’t know. There are extremely poisonous plants which can kill you.’
Ragwort, another deadly weed for humans and animals, has been on the rise in recent years. However, it does provide food for dozens of insects, and also boosts the bee population, which carry its pollen.
The long spell of hot weather and recent heavy rainfall has seen some specimens grow up to nine feet tall.
Regularly used to dispatch murder victims in fiction, hemlock contains alkaloids which attack the nervous system, causing paralysis, breathing difficulties and then death. Just six leaves can be fatal.
Sprouting up: Hemlock is reaching record sizes because of the weather, forcing a warning because of its deadly properties
The plants have green leaves flecked with red marks and have small white flowers.
They are a member of the parsley family and look similar to the harmless cow variety.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Their poison causes them to emit a foul smell, which botanists have compared to the odour of mouse urine.
HEMLOCK FACTFILE
In Ancient Greece, hemlock was used to kill condemned prisoners, most famously the philosopher Socrates in 399BC.
Its botanical name Conium maculatum comes from the Greek word ‘konas’ meaning to whirl around, because it causes trembling before death.
In Agatha Christie’s murder mystery Five Little Pigs, (1943), the painter Amyas Crale is killed when he is given a hemlock-laced beer to drink.
Some birds do not get poisoned by hemlock, such as larks and quails. But by eating it, they become just as poisonous as the plant.
Due to its sedative properties, Greek and Persian physicians used it to treat arthritis. But they had to stop as it was so easy to give too much and kill people.
The name hemlock comes from the Anglo-Saxons, who also used it in their medicine, and it means ‘shore plant’.
An old English legend had it the purple streaks on the stem represented the brand on Cain’s brow after he had murdered his brother Abel in the Old Testament.
Normally reaching heights of between three and six feet, some seen on roadside verges and waste-ground have been much higher.
Dominic Price, of the charity Plantlife, said: ‘The combination of the heat and damp in the last few weeks has helped this to become a fantastic year for hemlock.
‘They have the ability to grow big and this year’s weather means many of the plants are reaching record sizes.
‘They thrive on polluted road verges and on disturbed waste ground, two habitats which we have created in abundance over recent decades.’
He warned: ‘Anyone that touches hemlock should wash their hands immediately’.
Both the hemlock plant, and its sister plant the hemlock water-dropwort, which grows in wet areas such as riverbanks, are deadly.
Barry Phillips of the Royal Horticultural Society said: ‘People who go out foraging should be very careful of eating any plants they don’t know. There are extremely poisonous plants which can kill you.’
Ragwort, another deadly weed for humans and animals, has been on the rise in recent years. However, it does provide food for dozens of insects, and also boosts the bee population, which carry its pollen.
