POISONOUS PLANTS 309 



EUPHORBIACE.E 



This order contains a number of very poisonous 

 plants ; of these five may be noticed here. 



Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis L.) is a weed of 

 woods, hedges, and shady places, and is found as far 

 north as the Highlands. It is a hairy plant 6 inches 

 to 1 8 inches high, with the upper ovate-lanceolate 

 leaves 2 or 3 inches long ; the lower ones are smaller. 

 The flowers are minute and unisexual : the males 

 and females occur on separate plants (Fig. 88), and 

 appear in March and April. The stem is erect and 

 solitary, and the rootstock slender and creeping. The 

 plant is a perennial. 



The juice of Dog's Mercury is stated to be emetic 

 and the seeds dangerously purgative, but heat usually 

 destroys the poisonous property (Mercurialine, Oil of 

 Euphorbia). Owing to this weed having a disagreeable 

 smell it is rarely touched by animals, but it has proved 

 fatal to sheep, and to horses fed on herbage containing 

 it cut from a hedge. 



Annual Mercury (Mercurialis annua L.) is somewhat 

 similar in appearance to the foregoing species, but 

 annual only. It is a weed found in fields, gardens, 

 and on waste land in England, and is met with as a 

 casual weed in Scotland, and occasionally in Ireland. 

 It resembles M. perennis in its poisonous properties, 

 but, according to Cornevin, it has been used as a pot 

 herb in Germany. Both plants should be altogether 

 avoided, however, for any edible purpose. 



Caper Spurge (Euphorbia Lathyris L.) is a common 

 weed of woods and copses in Great Britain. It is a 

 biennial herbaceous plant, being short and leafy in the 

 first year, and 3 feet or more in height in its second 

 year. The leaves are 2 to 8 inches long, and placed 



