Its flowers are poker-shaped surrounded by a green leaf-like hood but it is the bright red and orange berries of this plant that are poisonous. The cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum) or lords and ladies, is found growing in woodlands and hedgerows. However, foxglove has saved more lives than it has cost as drugs derived from the plant are used to treat heart conditions. Even contact can cause irritation to the skin. If any part of the plant is eaten it causes vomiting and diarrhoea together with other unpleasant symptoms, and just like wolfsbane it can slow the heart down causing heart attacks. It is a common garden plant, popular due to its tall purple flowers. Once you can recognise it then you can make sure you don’t eat it and only handle it with gloves on.įoxglove grows in woodlands and hedgerows. The roots are thought to be especially poisonous but even so, people have been known to eat the roots and survive so it is very difficult to know how much contact is needed to kill someone.Īs with any poisonous plant, the best way to avoid it is to learn to recognise what it looks like. But its poison can also act through contact with the skin, particularly if there are open wounds. It is one of the most toxic plants that can be found in the UK, the toxins in the plant can cause a slowing of the heart rate which can be fatal and even eating a very small amount can lead to an upset stomach. Still, people plant it in their gardens, possibly unaware of the potential hazard.īeautiful but deadly: Wolfsbane Randi Hausken, Although it can be found throughout the UK, cases of accidental poisoning are very rare. The native plant, also called monkshood, has large leaves with rounded lobes and purple hooded flowers. Wolfsbane belongs to the plant genus Aconitum, a group of plants which are all poisonous.
Some just cause discomfort, but others have the potential to kill.
Serious poisoning by plants is very rare in the UKĭespite the British countryside’s genteel reputation there are a surprisingly large amount of poisonous plants growing both in the wild and in gardens.
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