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This must be some kind of mistake (thelemmy.club)
submitted 2 days ago by [M] to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 0 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Why would they be surprised? Don't most people know not to eat random unidentified plants?

Although my garden is filled with things that are edible because that is the point of growing them.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago* (4 children)

    Most people think they might get a bit ill or have a bit of stomach issues. Perhaps they know to avoid oleander or foxglove. Most don't realise they'd die a painful and entirely unpreventable death after eating a relatively small amount of leaves or seeds of other common garden plants.

    Hell, I was trimming my yew (taxus baccata) a few years ago and even the small amount of needles I accidentally got in my mouth made me quite ill. No antidote, so you'll die a painful and prolonged death.

    Then there's the whole hemlock thing, where people confuse it with carrots or parsley. Also no antidote, just a long and painful death.

    All too often, you'll see people trimming or burning highly toxic plants or not wearing gloves while dealing with plants which contain toxins which can be absorbed through the skin.

    And then there's the people who think wood is wood, and toss whatever on the fire.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (3 children)

    I thought yew was more commonly known to be deadly? Though the red berries IIRC are safe, as long as you don't eat the seed which is also deadly.

    As far as toxic to touch I don't think I am aware of anything in the UK you are realistically going to come into contact with.

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  • [–] 1 point 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

    As far as toxic to touch I don’t think I am aware of anything in the UK you are realistically going to come into contact with.

    Giant hogweed (related to hemlock, looks a bit like parsley). Looks like normal hogweed, but far more toxic. Won't kill you from touch alone, but not a great idea to handle it without gloves. Found all over the UK.

    Variants of hemlock are also abundant in parts of the UK. Quick google turned up a story about it growing near a school. Obviously parents panicked, which is silly because it grows all over the place. Hemlock water dropwort is the super poisonous one, found all over the place but I doubt most people'd realise. Left is hemlock and right is cow parsley:

    Obviously the person holding them is touching the hemlock with bare hands, which is a bad idea.

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  • [–] 1 point 19 hours ago (1 child)

    What is bad about touching it bare handed?

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  • [–] 1 point 17 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

    Skin irritation, rash, potentially for toxins to be absorbed through the skin, but especially dangerous if you have a small cut or abrasion you may not have noticed. Touching your eyes or nose after handling is also problematic and an easy mistake to make if you've been around plants that easily cause irritation.

    All the advice I've ever read says don't touch. Don't know of a grown adult who's ever died doing so, but it's nasty stuff. I googled (duckduckgod?). Eating 6 leaves is enough to kill you, seeds and roots even less.

    Here's a bbc countryfile article. The problem with some of these poisons is that it takes a while before you know you've been poisoned and even longer for you to die an unpleasant death.

    Luckily it's not as bad as the organometalics. Don't know if you've ever heard of Karen Wetterhan. Chemistry professor who dropped one or two drops of dimethylmercury on her protective gloves. Thought nothing of it. Went through her latex glove, absorbed through her skin within 15 seconds, she didn't notice it happening. Took her 10 months to die of mercury poisoning.

    Shit's no joke. I have two relatives who worked in the chemical industry. One has chronic leukemia. The other has Parkinson’s. Environmental exposure is likely to be a factor or have exacerbated things for both of them.

    TLDR: wear gloves and protective gear when necessary.

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