February, 1920. MoFFAT. — Notes on (Enanthc crocata. 13 



SOME NOTES ON (ENANTHE CROCATA: 

 ITS CHARACTER AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 



BY C. B. MOFFAT, B.A., M.R.I.A. 



When is a deadly poison wholesome food ? A curious 

 phase of this question — not outside the province of the 

 Irish Naturalist — has been brought before me during the 

 last two summers by one of the most notoriously deadly 

 of our umbelliferous plants, the Hemlock Water-Dropwort 

 {(Enanthe crocata, Linn.). 



It is scarcely necessary to say anything here as to the 

 general reputation held by this plant, so common in many 

 of our Irish rivers. Alike in its effects on cattle, horses, 

 and human beings, it has frequently been shown to be one 

 of the worst and speediest poisons in the flora of the British 

 Isles. Dr. Christison, a noted expert on the subject, is 

 quoted by Anne Pratt in her familiar little handbook, 

 " The Poisonous, Noxious, and Suspected Plants of our 

 Fields and Woods," as remarking of this species that " it 

 seems to be the most energetic poison of the umbelliferous 

 vegetables," and that " in none of the fatal cases known 

 to him was life prolonged beyond three hours and a half 

 after eating it, while in several instances death took place 

 within an hour after." More recent writers — Cornevin, 

 Holmes, and Long — are equally emphatic, and a careful 

 summary of the opinions of these authorities in Nature 

 for July 4th, 1918 (p. 354) shows that they all agree in 

 pronouncing every part of the plant virulently poisonous. 



Dr. Christison, however — as the writer in Nature points 

 out — made the further discovery that in the vicinity 

 of Edinburgh this species is, for some unknown reason, 

 " devoid of toxic properties " ; and thus it would appear 

 that a field is open for local investigation — so far, of course, 

 as this does not involve reckless " play with edged tools." 

 Hitherto the subject seems to have escaped local inquiry. 

 I assume that a statement in Wilson's " Rural Cyclopaedia " 

 that (Enanthe crocata has been found harmless in Scotland 

 is merely an echo of Christison's finding. On the other hand. 



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