CHAPTER XXXVIII 

 POISONOUS PLANTS 



THE increase in the number of country homes that are being built 

 on "new land" makes important an understanding of the common 

 poisonous plants which are likely to occur and which should not be 

 collected for use in planting, but should rather be removed if they are 

 so situated as to prove dangerous to people, or where they may be 

 browsed by animals. A few of these plants are sold by growers and if 

 planted they should be located after some forethought. 



Of those in the first list there are several that are really desirable 

 because of their flowers; but all in the second list can easily be dis- 

 pensed with. Similar to the poison ivy or poison oak is the woodbine 

 or Virginia creeper; but the latter has five leaflets on a stem while the 

 objectionable vine has three. There are several desirable species of 

 sumac in addition to the poisonous kind. The species to be avoided 

 can be recognized by its growing in swamps, and it is rarely found in 

 ground at all well drained. It and the poison ivy alike are distin- 

 guished by their white fruits. The first plant in List B, however, 

 primula obconica, the hairy primrose, popular as a house plant, need 

 not be discarded if any person who is susceptible to contact poisons 

 will rinse his hands in alcohol and then wash with soap and water 

 after handling this plant. 



Where animals may browse, the planter should not place any 

 form of the kalmia or laurel. This is the only desirable plant in List A 

 of considerable range that grazing animals are apt to feed upon. In 

 the west, particularly Wyoming, many sheep are killed by eating the 

 woody aster or the death camas. The darnel poisons men, dogs, 

 horses, and sheep, but does not harm cows, pigs, and ducks. 



Of those in the first group, the mushroom is the only one that is 

 likely to be eaten by a human being. The more dangerous species of 

 it is the amanita phalloides or "deadly amanita," for it is widely 

 distributed in woods and meadows and for the phallin that it con- 



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