Poisonous plants are common in gardens as they are often dramatically showy. Fruits like red baneberries look spray-painted; white baneberries look like doll’s eyes. Leaves may have dramatic appearance (like false hellebore, as seen here).
Following is a listing of toxic plants, primarily those that could be confused with other plants in this book. Other poisonous plants also occur in Alaska. Before consuming any plant, be positive of identification. Consult medical help immediately if you experience any adverse reaction.
POISON HEMLOCK aka WATER HEMLOCK
Cicuta mackenzieana, C. douglasii
Parsley family (Apiaceae, formerly Umbelliferae)
Of all the plants in Alaska, the poison/water hemlocks demand the most respect. Cicuta is, by far, the state’s most toxic plant. Even a leaf nibble has hospitalized foragers, and 1 to 3 bites of root has triggered renal failure, seizures, delirium, ventricular fibrillations, and death. A child using a Cicuta stem as a whistle also died. Years ago, while merely holding the stem of an uprooted hemlock to show details to students, my hand and arm began tingling like I was touching an electric fence. I’m now aware that absorption of cicutoxin is rapid and occurs through the skin as well as through the gut.
Cicuta mackenzieana, Alaska’s predominant species, ranges from the Kenai Peninsula to Kodiak to the Alaska Peninsula and north to the Brook’s Range. It has long narrow leaves, which some foragers mistake for marijuana (Cannabis). The broader-leafed Cicuta douglasii ranges from Southeast and south coastal Alaska to Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula.
Like all parsley/celery plant family members, poison hemlock bears compound umbels. Flower stems radiate from a single point, like the spokes of an umbrella, and from the top of each “spoke” is a second set of umbels. Learn this family pattern as it is key to this family of both delightful, as well as deadly, plants. Many books describe Cicuta’s roots as “chambered.” That is, if sliced open, they resemble a potato with slits cut through it, and bits of the potato between the slits scooped out to form chambered compartments. But you shouldn’t be handling the root, due to gut absorption of cicutoxin. And root chambering is not a reliable identification method. (I’ve found Cicuta roots heaved above the ground surface by frost that were not chambered, similar to a solid potato. Also, healthful plants like Angelica are described in floras as having septate (divided into compartments) roots.
An identifier I find more reliable (in combination with marshy habitat and umbel shape) is the pattern of leaf veins. Examine with a loupe (magnifier) and you will notice that Cicuta’s main leaf veins end at the bottom of the V between the toothed leaf margins, whereas the primary veins of lovage and angelica end at the tip of the teeth. The memory-jogging ditty taught me by Robyn Klein of Bozeman, Montana, is: “Vein to the cut, pain in the gut. Vein to the tip, pretty hip.”
Cicuta mackenzieana
Cicuta douglasii
FLOWER STAGE
FRUIT STAGE
BANEBERRY aka DOLL’S EYE
Actaea rubra
Buttercup family (formerly Crowfoot family, Ranunculaceae)
A deadly toxic berry! Baneberry is a perennial, averaging 1½ to 3½ feet in height, with toothed compound leaves and clusters of shiny red or white berries with a distinctive black dot at the end. Fruits are extremely bitter. Ingestion can cause sharp pains, mental confusion, bloody diarrhea, and even death due to cardiac arrest or respiratory paralysis. Seek prompt medical attention if ingested.
Aconitum delphinifolium, A. maximum
Buttercup family (formerly Crowfoot family, Ranunculaceae)
Monkshood contains highly poisonous aconitin, a neurotoxic and cardiotoxic alkaloid. Leaves are palmate and could be confused with those of wild geranium (unless the plants are in flower). Aconitum blossoms are deep purple (sometimes white) and, as the name indicates, shaped like a monk’s hood. Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are known to include Aconitum in complex formulas; dosage is absolutely critical as the toxins rival those of poison water hemlock (Cicuta).
FLOWER STAGE
SHOOTS STAGE
DELPHINIUM aka LARKSPUR
Delphinium species Buttercup family (formerly Crowfoot family, Ranunculaceae)
Delphiniums range wildly and widely across mainland Alaska and are also common garden flowers. Like monkshood, all parts of the plant contain cardiotoxic alkaloids. Though historically used externally in treatment of lice, toxins could be absorbed through broken or irritated skin.
Veratrum
species Bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae, formerly Lily family, Liliaceae)
Hellebore often grows in similar habitat with edible twisted stalk. Hellebore stems are stouter and bear parallel-veined leaves with deep pleats. Even a nibble can cause constriction in the throat and breathing difficulty. Mature hellebore has a central, tall flowering stalk bearing drooping clusters of greenish flowers. Flowers have 6 tepals (3 petals and 3 sepals of similar size and color). All parts of the plants contain steroidal alkaloids that can cause birth deformities in grazing animals and potential death to human foragers. In early spring, when just emerging from the earth, some foragers have mistaken small hellebore shoots for newly emerging twisted stalk shoots.
Toxicoscordion venenosum (formerly Zigadenus aka Zygadenus elegans) Bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae, formerly Lily, Liliaceae)
If you think you’ve found a wild onion, look again. Unlike the hollow round scented leaves of edible chive, toxic death camas has long flat leaves. Smell the plant. Death camas leaves and bulbs lack an onion scent. All parts of death camas contain zygadenine, an alkaloid that can cause salivation, muscular weakness, impaired breathing, and coma. Death camas thrives in open woods and grassy places and is toxic to both humans and livestock.
ARROWGRASS
Triglochin species
Arrowgrass family (Juncaginaceae)
Arrowgrass contains a cyanide compound. Symptoms of overingestion (typically by grazing animals) include trembling, vomiting, convulsions, and potentially death by asphyxiation. Toxicity increases in spring and when the plant is stressed by drought or lack of frost.
Flowering stems of seaside species (T. maritima) can reach 2½ feet. Flowers are in dense spikes. In early spring, foragers are known to confuse the young leaves of arrowgrass with the highly edible goosetongue (Plantago maritima). However, don’t panic if you accidentally nibble a leaf. The taste is significantly different from salty goosetongue. The toxic dose of cyanide in arrowgrass is not cumulative, and a significant quantity must be eaten at one time. Some guides insist that white leaf bases of arrowgrass are safe to eat, but I prefer to list the entire plant in the toxic class.
Andromeda polifolia
Heath family (Ericaceae), Blueberry subfamily (Vaccinioideae), Andromeda tribe (Andromedeae)
Leaves are long and pointed, somewhat resembling Labrador tea. Bog rosemary leaves are pale underneath (they lack Labrador tea’s brownish felty undersides). Bog rosemary also lacks a distinct scent when crushed. Flowers are pink bells. The plant contains andromedotoxin, which causes breathing difficulties, cramps, coordination loss, low blood pressure, vomiting, and diarrhea.
WILD CALLA aka BOG ARUM
Calla palustris
Arum family (Araceae)
Calla leaves are similar to those of marsh marigold but come to an abrupt point. The plant bears a central flower spike (spadix) backed by a white modified leaf (spathe). Flowers are followed by clusters of red berries. The plant contains calcium oxalate, which causes intense burning of the mouth and throat. It’s said that the burning crystals can be neutralized by thorough drying or boiling, but until more data is available, I regard calla as a toxic plant.
