210 MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS 
attractiveness, however, is not always a necessary element 
of danger in this matter, appears from the following instance 
which comes from New York. “Four children were playing 
in one of the public parks of the city where jimson-weeds 
were growing luxuriantly. The boys imagined themselves 
Indians and roamed about and ate parts of various plants. 
Three of them ate the seeds of the jimson-weed. One died 
Fic. 200.—Mistletoe (Viscum album, Mistletoe Family, Loranthacee). 
Bunches of the plant growing upon a leafless tree in winter. (Ker- 
ner.)—Woody parasite, growing on various trees, principally apple 
and poplars, and attaining a length of 1 m. or more; leaves evergreen; 
flowers greenish; fruit a white berry with viscid pulp. Native home, 
Europe. 
in a state of wild delirium; another was saved after heroic 
treatment; . . . the third who ate but few of the seeds was 
but little affected.”’ This miserable weed has one of the worst 
records among poisonous plants. Many lives are lost through 
permitting this plant to grow in places frequented by children. 
A few further examples of poisonous fruits and seeds re- 
quire mention. The green berries of the white potato, al- 
though scarcely attractive to most people, have been eaten 
