Anchorage Daily News

The sled dog wagged his way around the yard, sniffing here, nibbling there, hitting the entertainment jackpot in the rhubarb patch. He chewed through the stems and, holding them tight between his paws, shredded and swallowed fans of leaves.

“And he died,” says Dr. Peter Nicholson of College Village Animal Clinic in Anchorage. “Rhubarb leaves are loaded with oxalic acid that crystallizes in the kidneys. It’s a pretty horribly painful way to go.”

Rhubarb isn’t the only common and desirable plant in the Anchorage Bowl that can sicken or kill pets and people alike. Think of lilies: deadly to cats. Inside, think of the houseplant diffenbachia, aptly nicknamed “dumb cane” because chewing it paralyzes the tongue and jaw, and the swelling that moves along to the throat can suffocate and kill.

Drifts of daffodils? There are good reasons deer and moose won’t touch them, including gastrointestinal scouring with possible convulsions and jumpy heartbeat. Their sap is so formidable it will make other flowers in the same vase droop and die.

Honey gathered by bees from azaleas and rhododendrons — all parts of the plants are poisonous — have changed history, something to bear in mind when planting a bush or two in a yard where children play. Ten thousand Persian soldiers looting their way along the coast of Turkey in 401 B.C. gorged on honey from Rhododendron luteum and fell en masse to the ground raving, vomiting and helpless. The historian Xenophon doesn’t mention any deaths but notes it was three days before any were able to stagger to their feet. The same thing happened some years later to the armies of Alexander the Great and the Roman general Pompey.

Some parts of some generally poisonous plants are safe (think tomatoes and potatoes); some are safe at some times but not at others (young larkspur leaves are poisonous, but not older ones); but poisonous young milkweed, top to bottom, gets more and more toxic with age.

All parts of delphiniums, nicknamed “staggerweed,” can be lethal. Nibbling delphinium can trigger explosive vomiting and diarrhea, muscle weakness and hard spasms, convulsions, a paralyzed respiratory system and death. In times past, the murderous seeds were ground to powder and used to kill head and body lice, but this turned out to have unfortunate effects on some of the patients, even when dusted on externally.

Beautiful spotted foxglove, that cottage garden favorite, has been a source of digitalis prescribed for heart trouble since at least the Middle Ages, but it builds up in the body and, over time, can stop the organ it’s meant to strengthen. The chemicals can be absorbed through skin, so this one is safest handled with gloves.

Lily-of-the-valley is another cherished garden plant that affects the heart. All parts of the plant are poisonous — roots, stems, leaves and flowers — but especially the red berries of summer. In addition to making the heart jump and skip, it causes serious digestive upsets and confusion. Like daffodils, it poisons water as a cut flower.

Leaves and roots of bleeding heart can cause convulsions, rashes and even death if enough is consumed. Cattle have died from browsing bleeding heart.

Spring crocuses are harmless, but the autumn crocus, or meadow saffron, is a different story. All of it is dangerous, but especially the flowers and portions underground.

Plants in the genus Euphorbia are popular here (poinsettia, crown-of-thorns, snow-on-the-mountain are three lovely ones), but all the Euphorbias, or spurges, have milky or yellow sap or juice that is virulently caustic and an agony if you get it in an open cut or the eyes, nose or mouth. It can scar: The sap of some species has been used to brand cattle. Some have a latex sort of base and can’t easily be washed off with water. Hand cream or oil is the answer, if this can be remembered through the pain.

The Christmas rose, black hellebore, used to be used to worm people but killed enough of them with uncontrollable vomiting and seizures that this was stopped. Another plant available through the holidays, mistletoe, has berries that can kill a child or susceptible adult.

Monkshood, such a show in our gardens, has the more ominous moniker “wolfsbane,” and the Greeks believed the graceful purple flowers sprang from the drool of Cerberus, three-headed guardian of the gates of hell. It was the poison of choice for the Borgias and others looking to rid themselves of enemies or speed an inheritance. It’s an Aconite, and alkaloids in all parts of the plant can stop the heart. Romeo drank aconite in despair when he thought Juliet was dead.

Irises are a purge; hyacinth bulbs can fatally attack the digestive system; and there’s nothing sweet about sweet peas and their pods, which should be left strictly alone.

In wild Alaska, the death camas, so much like a little wild onion, has killed, and all parts of butter-and-eggs are poisonous. But king of the skull-and-bones club is water hemlock, with its lacy carrot-plantlike leaves. Many consider it the most lethal plant in North American, and a mouthful of the root, which looks and tastes pleasantly like parsnip, can kill a man in 20 minutes. Children have been sickened even by making whistles out of the hollow stems.

Children under 5 years old are the most frequent victims of poisonous garden plants because they’re inquisitive, they learn by putting as much of the world in their mouths as they can, and their low weight means poisons are more concentrated in their bodies. Every household should have the emergency number of Poison Control — 1-800-222-1222 — by the phone and a bottle of Ipecac in the medicine chest.

“Alaskans are different when it comes to plant poisonings,” says Tonya Drayden, registered nurse and public education coordinator of the Oregon Poison Center, which oversees Alaska, Oregon and Guam. “In Alaska, people will wait to see what happens before they give us a call. This is not a good idea.” She says 60 percent of calls to the Poison Center are about children under the age of 6.

“Usually they’re out with the family, out playing, and the adults are distracted,” she says. “It may be near mealtime, the kids are hungry and curious and experimenting with what they may find inside or outside the house.”

Drayden warns especially against horsetail (“nicotinelike neurological effects, rash, serious muscle weakness”) and cow parsnip with its broad leaves and white-flowered umbrellas, like Queen Anne’s lace on steroids. Cow parsnip, which seems to edge every road and trail in the Anchorage bowl, is loaded with psoralens, sun-sensitizing agents. Sunlight hitting the juice on bare skin raises scald blisters that rot and eat back into healthy flesh. The wounds don’t heal easily. Sometimes, hospitalization and skin grafts are needed — dire treatment for something that can be avoided by wearing long sleeves and long pants. People should be aware of what poisonous plants are in their yards and neighborhoods, she says (the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service can make IDs). If you must rush to the emergency room, take part of the plant in a plastic bag to aid with identification.

Don’t think because birds or animals eat something, it’s safe for humans, she says. There are plenty of things people eat that will kill a dog: chocolate, for instance, or for some dogs, grapes or raisins. And things animals eat greedily may harm people.

If something doesn’t turn up in bins at the grocery store, there’s a good reason. Don’t experiment with plants, however appetizing they might look, smell or taste. The trial might be your last. As Genesis 3:6 has it, “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” And Eve sampled the apple and passed it along to Adam. And we all know how that story ends.

Protect yourself

• Know what’s growing in your yard and neighborhood that’s poisonous.

• If it’s not sold at the grocery stores or farmers markets, don’t eat it.

• Don’t sample or graze; with some plants, all it takes is one mouthful.

• Birds and animals aren’t reliable tasters; what they relish can kill you.

• Unless seeds or berries are commonly used as foods, leave them alone.

• Don’t ever eat bulbs, however much they may look like onions.

• Leave the wild mushrooms alone; they’re tricky and can fool even experts: “The Destroying Angel” isn’t an affectionate pet name.

• If it’s oozing milky white or colored sap, let it be.

• In the woods, don’t use unknown branches or twigs to roast hot dogs or marshmallows. Don’t cook over campfires of plants you don’t know or let the smoke touch you or breathe it.

• Put poisonous plants safely away from children or pets.

• Don’t chew or suck on necklaces or other jewelry made of seeds or beads. Just one of the popular rosary bead seeds used as jewelry in some cultures can kill, as can a single castor bean.

• Keep all seeds and bulbs away from children.

• keep the number of the Poison Center next to the phone. In an emergency, you won’t have time to hunt.

• Keep a bottle of Ipecac in the medicine chest.

• If you’re running for the hospital, take what’s left of the plant with you.

— Tonya Drayden, registered nurse, Oregon Poison Center; “Poisonous Plants” by Suzanne M. Coil; “Poisons in Our Path” by Anne Ophelia Dowden; University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service; Julie Riley, horticulturist

Poisoning emergencies

• Oregon Poison Center (covers Alaska, Oregon and Guam): 1-800-222-1222 (staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week)

• University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service: for nonemergency plant identification. Has offices around the state. Has free brochures. In Anchorage, 786-6300

• www.aspca.org: Under “Expert Advice” to the left, click on “Animal Poison Control.” There’s also list of toxic plants that affect horses.

ADVERTISEMENT