Deadly sap got on my skin, here’s what happened…

#poisonhemlock #poisonousplants #coniummaculatum

[FeralForaging]

Why did I conduct this experiment? Please read this! 👇

The video does NOT suggest that you should interact with poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) flippantly. Its purpose is to help people understand that removing poison hemlock is likely FAR safer than removing Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Again, CAUTION IS ADVISED, especially if you are removing large patches of poison hemlock.

Because poison hemlock is in the carrot family and extremely poisonous to ingest, people usually lump it in with the acutely phototoxic carrot family members (yes this family is wild 😅), and from everything I have read and personally experienced, this should not be the case. Extremely sensitive individuals may experience a reaction, but for the vast majority of the population, this is not likely to occur. Also, people should take measures to avoid getting the sap on cuts or in their eyes.

A great time to remove poison hemlock is when they are flowering. At this stage, they are extremely easy to spot and identify and haven’t yet produced their seeds. Poison hemlock is a biennial, so removing the plants at this stage will kill them before they can make any seeds. (Mowing or chopping may be an option at this stage as well, but I haven’t tested their capacity to grow back so late into the season) I have both edible and dangerous plants on my Interactive Forager's Calendar 📅, so you'll know when to look out for them! (link in bio)

Have you ever seen Poison Hemlock before?

[jessigrady]

My cousin got poison ivy when we were in elementary school and got a week off from school. I proceeded to find said poison ivy and roll all around in it to get time off from school 😂 welp, im not allergic to it. Nothing happened. I guess it was for the best lol

[cfoley]

If hemlock caused chemical burns, I'd have been a giant blister as a kid. We used to pick huge bunches of it and give it to our mom as a "surprise".

[varshboo]

The way a crow shook down on me
The dust of snow from a hemlock tree
Has given my heart a change of mood
And saved some part of a day I had rued :))

Just remembered this poem when hearing the word "hemlock" lol

[John-giqk]

I see poison Hemlock in the ditches a lot here in TN. I wish the medicinal herbs were more available and less poison like Hamock. Thank you for the video.

[KaliFissure]

A man did die from hemlock toxicity not that long ago but he was unfortunately using a weed whacker and it sprayed the sap/latex into the air.

[staceyreid]

We have stinging nettles where I live and one of my nieces reacted horribly to it. The rest of us have only had minor itching so it was surprising

[mondaynugget]

I’ve picked loads of that and always thought it smelled like carrots

[valerieadair]

I don’t even think about this kind of thing when I go out into the heavily overgrown area in the back of the yard. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I subscribed to your channel yesterday and I have learned so many new things! ❤

[janieschane]

Very good review! I ALWAYS use an identification app. on my phone. Was VERY surprised, when I thought 🤔, the pretty green growing in spring was actually "poison hemlock"... Definitely destroyed it. Thank you.

[cmills]

Some people are more sensitive and will have stomach flu like symptoms just from weeding it bare handed.

[the_lyrical_woodsman]

I'm surprised you didn't include info on how it shuts down the lungs and requires a respirator for a few days to survive poisoning

[Gothmog]

I once made a snorkel out of poison hemlock. I was like 10 and didn’t know better.

[clvrcookie]

A North American native lookalike of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is water hemlock (Cicuta maculata). Taxonomists really didn't make it easy to differentiate them by their scientific names. They're only a few letters off from being identical! I swear the plants look different though

They're both highly poisonous, with Cicuta maculata considered the most poisonous plant in North America, so you may still remove it from areas frequented by kids or pets (your yard). Don't remove it from its natural habitat!

[SageandStoneHomestead]

I recently got extensive parsnip burns on my arm. That stuff is no joke

[ThrowingClips]

Hearing you pronounce your “S’s” let me know that you do in fact work with plants and love it. Not a warrior in your past life. The way you cradle plants in your dainty little arms makes me smile 😊

[objective_psychology]

Thank you so much for this. I've been way too worried about accidentally touching it, as well as pokeweed. In hindsight it's all fear-based regurgitation of overly strict precautions as fact.

[_Solaris]

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

-kudos for naming the band who wrote that song...

[Gtr]

one if my favorite new hobbies is finding new areas to walk around in and pull up plants, lol.

currently working on coral ardisia on land near my neighborhood. Alachua country, FL for those curious.

[Scottymoonbeam]

It's so funny because all the playgrounds for kids in the parks here in San Francisco have those poisonous flowers everywhere! Along with mog mertle and whatever else