A question for the Botanists

[Stuart]

are there any members of the garlic or mint family that are considered toxic?

the reason I ask is that I am getting quite good at identifying members of the mint and garlic family even though most of the time I don’t know what the specific species is.

so far I have not found any reference to a member of these families being toxic, if this is the case then I can happy try eating any plant that I positively identify as a member of the mustard or mint of family of which there is combined total of 6,700 species

I need to do a little more research to be sure, but I thought I would see if anyone here knew of a toxic member of these families

 

[tomtom]

This may help.. this site normaly indicated toxcity(sp) i think this is the correct sub catagory for the garlic family
http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/fff/glob.pl?report=gnfllist&genus=Allium

they dont have a catagory for the mint (Monarda) catagory though..

my plant lore is pretty poor so i dont know if these are of any help at all.

 

[george]

are there any members of the garlic or mint family that are considered toxic?

the reason I ask is that I am getting quite good at identifying members of the mint and garlic family even though most of the time I don’t know what the specific species is.

so far I have not found any reference to a member of these families being toxic, if this is the case then I can happy try eating any plant that I positively identify as a member of the mustard or mint of family of which there is combined total of 6,700 species

I need to do a little more research to be sure, but I thought I would see if anyone here knew of a toxic member of these families

I would be very wary of broad generalisations like that Stuart - though I'm sure you are

Take the Solanacaea family for example - it includes potatoes - of which there are loads of different varieties, as well as chillies, eggplants and tomatoes. It would be tempting to say from that that all of the solanacaea family should be edible - but it also includes the deadly nightshade and tobacco plant.

I shall ask my wife (she's a botanist and taxonomist) and see what she says.

George

 

[JohnB]

For mints, try listings for "Mentha" under dicotyledons in the plant data base.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/fff/searchFL.html

 

[Stuart]

I would be very wary of broad generalisations like that Stuart - though I'm sure you are

Indeed I am and I am very aware that families which contain edibles are just as capable of containing poisonous species. But in this case I have thus far not come across any mention of poisonous species in the mint or garlic family which has encouraged me to research further into whether any exist.

if there are indeed no toxic species within these two families that would provide me with a possible way of determining whether a plant with which I was unfamiliar was edible, if I could correctly identify it as a member of the mint (square stems, irregular flowers, opposing leaves etc) or garlic family (four petals, four sepals, 6 stamen two short etc) then I would be able to taste it an see if I want it in my salad.

 

[Stuart]

Ah I have just found a reference that states that all the members of the mustard family are edible, I would however still like to find at least one other concurring source.

I don’t have any information for the mint family though

 

[Fenlander]

You seem to have forgotten this important rule Stuart

Regardless of any references you might find, you should still carry out the testing process to establish that you as an individual do not have a reaction to any of them.
Only then, can you be sure that none of the family are toxic....to you anyway

Better to be safe than sorry

(speak to you when i get back .....byeeee)

 

[Ben_Hillwalker]

Well, mints are members of the labiatae family and it's quite useful to be able to identify them as they contain a wide variety of culinary herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage to name but a few).

All labiates have (1) a stem that is square in cross-section, (2) opposite and alternate leaves, and (3) four ovules arranged in a square.

I don't know of any toxic labiates, but I have come across some wierd types of sage that smelt revolting and took quite a while for the smell to get off my hand

 

[Stuart]

Regardless of any references you might find, you should still carry out the testing process to establish that you as an individual do not have a reaction to any of them.

I haven’t forgotten your lesson fenlander, that's what I meant when I said "then I would be able to taste it an see if I want it in my salad".
Though I admit I didn’t make myself clear, so to clarify, when I say taste I do of course mean to carry out a taste test to determine whether I have any allergic reactions to the particular plant etc

 

[match]

I think its difficult to be absolutely sure, since not all mints have any information recorded on their uses.

As far as I am aware all of the large-leaved mints that are 'mint-smelling' are edible - and I would personally have no qualms about using these, at least not the ones I would expect to find in Europe.

Some members of the mint family are known to have abortive effects - pennyroyal for example, but again usually only in high concentration, i.e whe used as an oil extract. In general, the smaller the leaf size (pennyroyal, corsican mint etc) the higher the abortive effects of its concentrate.

However, going further than the mentha genus, I do know there are several toxic labiatiae family members, such as skullcap, so just looking for labiate qualities won't be enough to stop you getting poisoned.

As to Alliums (onion genus) there are several varieties that may cause minor posioning (vomiting and diarrhea) - see http://envhort.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/Tox-SCI.htm as a reasonable reference.

 

[Ahjno]

Ah I have just found a reference that states that all the members of the mustard family are edible, I would however still like to find at least one other concurring source.

I don’t have any information for the mint family though

Stuart,

That would be the Brassicaceae family (also known as the cabbage (and mustard) family. Indeed a big family! What reference did state all members of that family are edible? Do you've got a link / reference?
Would be of some great help for the project I'm working on

Cheers!

 

[Stuart]

That would be the Brassicaceae family (also known as the cabbage (and mustard) family. Indeed a big family! What reference did state all members of that family are edible? Do you've got a link / reference?
Would be of some great help for the project I'm working on

I found the referance on page 17, paragraph 3 of 'Botany in a day' by Thomas J. Elpel

"All species of mustard are edible, Although some taste better than others. If you have correctly identified a plant as a member of the mustard family, then you can safely try it to see if you want it in your salad."