# Survival > Foraging & Wild Edibles >  The most Poisonous Plants in North America......?

## Sourdough

Is there a list of the 10 most poisonous plants in North America.....?

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## Ken

Here it is.  Scroll down the page a bit and there you'll find it.   :Smile: 

http://green-magazine.blogspot.com/2...poisonous.html

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## Ken

Here's another "Top 10" list for horses:

http://www.raspberryridge.com/Featur...s%20plants.htm

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## wareagle69

good post on the horses ken thanks

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## Ken

Another very good website:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/poison.html

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## Sourdough

Those are the "MOST" poisonous plants in North America......?????  Really.....?  No Baneberry..?? or Death Camas...??? or Monkshood...???

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## Sam Reeves

> Here's another "Top 10" list for horses:
> 
> http://www.raspberryridge.com/Featur...s%20plants.htm


Oh, come on now! Just because I eat like a horse do mean you had to post a top ten for horses.

By the way, have you tried these for quality control yet?  :Big Grin:

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## Ken

> Oh, come on now! Just because I eat like a horse do mean you had to post a top ten for horses.
> 
> By the way, have you tried these for quality control yet?


No, we outsource some of our tests.

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## Sam Reeves

> No, we outsource some of our tests.


Understandably. It seems like the last pace you will find edible plants is the flowerbed.

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## Sourdough

Maybe I need to ask the question differently. Hold the Horse, dog, monkey, poisonous plants.

FOR HUMANS; WHAT IS THE MOST POISONOUS PLANTS FOUND IN NORTH AMERICA. Sorry I was not clear.

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## Ken

> Maybe I need to ask the question differently. Hold the Horse, dog, monkey, poisonous plants.
> 
> FOR HUMANS; WHAT IS THE MOST POISONOUS PLANTS FOUND IN NORTH AMERICA. Sorry I was not clear.


I'm trying, hopeak.

http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/eco/yourfo...nousplants.pdf

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## Rick

Hopeak, there is a list of poisonous plants in my Peterson field guide. Here are some of the ones known to have caused fatalities. 

American Yew
Azalea
Baneberries
Black Locust
Canada Moonseed
Castor-bean 
Common Tansy
Ergot
False Hellebore
Horsechestnut, Buckeye
Jimsonweed
Lantana
Laurel
Mistletoe
Monkshood
Mushrooms
Nightshades
Pokeweed
Rhododendron
Water-hemlock
White Snakeroot
Wild Cherries
Yellow Jessamine

There are many others considered poisonous but these have been documented to have caused death.

Page 7 if anyone has Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America.

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## Sourdough

Rick, Thank you......Now to refine it farther, which is the three most leathal.......?

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## RangerXanatos

Pokeweed...  I love that stuff.  Around here we all call it Poke Salad.  We actually treat it like turnip or collard greens and eat them.

Daniel

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## Sourdough

> Pokeweed...  I love that stuff.  Around here we all call it Poke Salad.  We actually treat it like turnip or collard greens and eat them.
> 
> Daniel


So you carefully read the question, and this is your answer to what is the most poisonous plant.......?

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## crashdive123

I know that my knowledge of wild edibles (and poisonous plants) is pretty weak, but I was wondering the same thing.

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## Rick

According to the CDC, Water Hemlock is the most poisonous plant in North America. 

"Water hemlock -- also known as beaver poison, children's bane, death-of-man, poison parsnip, and false parsley -- is in the same family as parsley, parsnips, celery, and carrots. It is similar in appearance to parsnips, smells like fresh turnips, and tastes sweet, but it is the most toxic indigenous plant in North America."

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/00026056.htm

1 down, 2 to go...

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## Rick

I can offer up some books. 

Human Poisoning from Native and Cultivated Plants. Hardin, James W. and Jay M. Arena. 

Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada. Kingsbury, John M. 

Deadly Harvast: A Guide to Common Poisonous Plants. I don't know the author of this one.

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## Rick

I just stumbled upon this and thought it was good advice: 

There are bold mushroom hunters and there are old mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters. --- A wise person

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## Rick

Here is a nice site from Purdue University (Yeah, Indiana!) that lists plant by Extremely Toxic, Moderately Toxic and Minimally Toxic. I think that's about the best we're going to get. I don't know that being dead from Hemlock is better or worse than being dead from Castor Bean. (shrug).

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/bytox1.htm

Be sure to check out Animal Affected in each of the plants listed.

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## Sourdough

WOW, Rick, you get two twinkies for all that work, Thank-you, My book Say's death with-in 8 hours. However is does not sound like a good way to go. I was rooting for the monkshood, as they are so pretty, and here they grow intermixed with the Blueberry's...

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## Rick

I have to think Castor Bean is at the top along with the Aminitas 1.)Death Cap (Amanita Phalloides) 2.)Fool's Mushroom or Spring Destroying Angel (Aminita Verna) 3.) Destroying Angel (Aminita Virosa).

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## RangerXanatos

> So you carefully read the question, and this is your answer to what is the most poisonous plant.......?


No, that's not my final answer, Regis.  I'm just stating that some plants that are pointed out as being poisonous, often have edible parts.  Tomato plants for example produce edible fruit, whereas the leaves are poisonous.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato  "Under Tomatoes in Britian."  You just have to know what parts to stay away from.

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## Rick

> Pokeweed... I love that stuff. Around here we all call it Poke Salad. We actually treat it like turnip or collard greens and eat them.


Believe it or not, Poke is what got me started on my quest to learn wilderness ways. I can remember my mom picking the stuff and cooking it when I was a kid. Several changes of water later, we'd eat it. I realized a few years back that I didn't know what it looked like or how to fix it and how terrible it was that the knowledge had been lost by me. Mom and Dad were gone so I had no one to ask/show me. Soooooo. I started reading and digging for information on edible plants. Do I eat Poke today. Nope. Anything that says Caution: Dangerously Poisonous I don't mess with regardless of how many changes of water you run it through. Ironic, huh?

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## RangerXanatos

I really don't remember my mom changing the water several times, maybe one time, though she may have done it repeatively.  Though I do recall her saying to not pick the leaves off of the bigger Pokeweeds and definately not the ones that already have berries.  Maybe that has something to do with it?  Not being mature enough to be of serious concern, so it is edible?

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## Rick

Yes. It's actually pretty versatile. You can cook it like asparagus, cook it as greens or pickle it. The young shoots can be boiled for 20-30 minutes in at least two changes of water. The older peeled shoots can be boiled for 15 minutes in multiple changes of water then pickled in hot vinegar.

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## wareagle69

can hardly wait for the wife to get home tonight goona have me a poke..

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## nell67

> can hardly wait for the wife to get home tonight goona have me a poke..


 :EEK!:  :EEK!:  :EEK!:  you devil!

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## Sourdough

Bad Dog Bad Bad Bad.

Which raises the Question, Just who was Poke Salad ANNIE........?......... :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Rick

A generic Southern girl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poke_Salad_Annie

And please note, it should be Poke Sallet not Salad. Inquiring minds just found out.

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## wareagle69

> Bad Dog Bad Bad Bad.
> 
> Which raises the Question, Just who was Poke Salad ANNIE........?.........


yeah i get that allot not just cuz i poo on the carpet either

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## Rick

If anyone has any spare newspaper would you be kind enough to ship it to Mrs. Wareagle?

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## crashdive123

Everybody's trainable

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

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## LeaveThisLifeGuy

how bout some pics of these uber-deadlies?  that would be helpful.  i could always google each one....  but i'm lazy.

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## bulrush

Interesting. I didn't know Jimsonweed (Datura) is in the same genus as some cultivated flowers called Devil's Trumpet and Angel's Trumpet. One is genus is Datura, the other is Bruggmansia. A house on my street has these (about 3 feet tall). But I've also seen these in the wild (about 6-12 inches tall).

I've said this before, but it all depends on what part of the plant you eat, when in the growing season you eat it, how you cook it (or not), and how much you eat. Some of the species listed on http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/bytox1.htm are actually listed as edible in other books or websites. For example, I know I've seen milkweed as edible, but it is listed as "moderately poisonous" on the above webpage.

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## canid

Datura and Brugmansia are not in the same genus, they are genera unto themselves, with many species in each taxon, but are in the same family [the Solanaceae], and are indeed closely related even within that group.

no part of any Datura or Brugmansia should be eaten except under the supervised context of magico-religious ceremony. all parts of these species contain one or more of the Tropane alkaloids to my knowledge.

for many other plants, as you mentioned, there are stages and portions which may be safely eaten while others may not. other examples are the common carrot, whoe's seeds are toxic, and Potatoes, the green portions of which contain Tropanes similar to those found in the other nightshades such as Datura, Brugmansia and Belledona.

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## bulrush

Yes, I wasn't clear on that. I edited my post. 

Doesn't Solanaceae include tomatoes and potatoes?

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## canid

yup, they sure do. this is the family which is referred to in the broader application of the term Nightshades.

btw: i should also ammend my statement above to reflect that such plants, in the hands of an experienced and knoledgeble healer can be safely be used to treat many illnesses or disorders, but that this is also an area that leaves no room for fooling around.

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## bladefrenzy

Here in Mississippi, I have heard of folks eating seeds of the Jimsom to halucinate (sp?) much like that of LSD. Also was told by a Doc. that teens doing this may never "come down"  !  Pretty potent stuff!

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## Sam Reeves

We've been boiling the leaves of Poke salad and eating it for as long as I remember. It's the berries that are inedible.

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## Rick

At the risk of injuring someone with misinformation, Sam, the roots, leaves, stems and leaves of Poke or Pokeweed are "dangerously poisonous". Not my words, that's from the Peterson guide.

Pokeweed contains phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin, which are poisonous to mammals. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokeweed

The reason you boil it in multiple changes of water is to remove the toxins.

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## Sam Reeves

> At the risk of injuring someone with misinformation, Sam, the roots, leaves, stems and leaves of Poke or Pokeweed are "dangerously poisonous". Not my words, that's from the Peterson guide.
> 
> Pokeweed contains phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin, which are poisonous to mammals. 
> 
> Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokeweed
> 
> The reason you boil it in multiple changes of water is to remove the toxins.


The reason we keep adding water to the pot is because it reduces as it boils down. All I'm saying is that Poke Salad has been successfully eaten for many years by many people.

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## skunkkiller

skunkkiller here tomato leaves are one of the most deadly.

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## canid

> Hopeak, there is a list of poisonous plants in my Peterson field guide. Here are some of the ones known to have caused fatalities. 
> 
> American Yew
> Azalea
> Baneberries
> Black Locust
> Canada Moonseed
> Castor-bean 
> Common Tansy
> ...


rick; i just noticed that bit there about wild cherries. i would be interested if they cited any reference for a Prunus spp. fatality.

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## canid

yeah, poke salad is perfectly fine if you use the young leaves, before they develop and red/purple tones in the stems and change the water while cooking. the roots, mature leaves, particularly the mid-vein, stems, berries, etc are all toxic, becomming more so as they mature.

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## smokelessfire

i like how some books list things like unripe mulberries as poisonous when they really mean "highly psychedelic" (see tom brown's books for their true nature heh heh!).

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## Rick

Canid - It does not. It only indicates that fatalities are known to have occurred. I double checked to ensure that I was correct in adding it and I was. It is listed as Prunus spp. so all varieties.

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## canid

well yeah; the pits of Prunus species contain cyanides but i just hadn't heard that any fatalities where known. thanks for the info.

smokelessfire; don't spout info like that. reports of hallucinations are rare, while the nagative somatic effects are well established and the toxin [as of the last i've heard] is still unidentified and of unknown nature. that kind of claim could portentially get somebody hurt or worse.

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## Ole WV Coot

> Pokeweed...  I love that stuff.  Around here we all call it Poke Salad.  We actually treat it like turnip or collard greens and eat them.
> 
> Daniel


You can eat it and it's good when it's small. When it grows up like some old folks it gets mean. Those berries are killers along with everything else. Just for grins wait till the plant matures and take the leaves, stalk & berries and crush them up and throw them in a little still cove in the river and watch the dead fish float to the top :EEK!:  Then again you got greens in the spring and fish later on. :Big Grin:

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## Ole WV Coot

> i like how some books list things like unripe mulberries as poisonous when they really mean "highly psychedelic" (see tom brown's books for their true nature heh heh!).


They are psychedelic. Eat a handful and you will see buzzards circling round your head. If you are lucky you may see angels but those are long odds. More than likely you will see where you barfed, then nite nite :EEK!:

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## RangerXanatos

So I've been fishing the wrong way the whole time.  We've got Pokeweed everywhere here and a creek in the backyard.   :EEK!:   :Big Grin:

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## canid

i've never gotten worse than mild stomach ache from mulberries. the species with red coloration in the berries at any stage [seems a lot of plant toxins are derivative of pigments] are the more toxic, according to common belief. i just wouldn't want to tempt any bored thrill seekers into trying potentially dangerous stages or amounts of plants to get mind altering effects from unknown toxins.

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