Plant ID Please

[loz.]

Hi,

Can anyone id these two plants - seen whislt out today testing the new Magikelly GB Hammocks ?

1 - each leave was forked towards the stem,

2 - strong onion smell

Want to know because i did a very silly thing. - I tasted number 1 - and tasted nice for about 10 seconds - like spinach - but then it burnt my mouth like hell !!!

leason learn't - and now to purchase a good flora id book.

 

[M@rk]

The first one looks like lords and ladies or cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum ) to me.

 

[billycan]

The first one is Lords and Ladies/Cuckoo pint/ wild arrum - all the same plant, and its POISONOUS. cant remember the latin?? I've got a feeling you can do something with the root, roast or boil as its full of carbs...?

The second is ramsons or wild garlic, Allilaria petiolata i think...

 

[M@rk]

the second could be Lily of the valley but Im not sure. what was the habitat like.

 

[loz.]

Deciduous woodland - the local park !

Mouth stopped burning now - but concerned about how silly that was..

ok link to buring sensation


quote - The plant contains calcium oxylate crystals. These cause an extremely unpleasant sensation similar to needles being stuck into the mouth and tongue if they are eaten, but they are easily neutralized by thoroughly drying or cooking the plant or by steeping it in water[65].

And yes - they do !!!!!

 

[JonnyP]

The first one is Lords and Ladies/Cuckoo pint/ wild arrum - all the same plant, and its POISONOUS. cant remember the latin?? I've got a feeling you can do something with the root, roast or boil as its full of carbs...?

The second is ramsons or wild garlic, Allilaria petiolata i think...

Spot on........
You can use the roots for eating, but you need to get it right as the plant (as you say) is poisonous.

Loz....First of all you get the burning sensation in the mouth, then that goes, and you feel ok, but the next day warts will appear on the roof of your mouth and the throat closes up some, you then start to shivver, the body goes into uncontrolable fits, the hallucinations will be starting at this point, you will start to froth at the mouth. The poison is just starting to get into your system now and the effects really get going, your skin errupts with weeping boils, your brain starts to swell and compresses itself onto your skull, your tongue hangs out and your eyes feel like they are going to pop out....I could go on, but I think you get the picture.....I am afraid there is nothing modern medicine can do for you....
Its been nice knowing you......

 

[Spark]

:yikes: sounds real bad Jon

I have wondered for a while what the plant that is wild arrum actually is. There is loads of it in the local woods. I was going to post it myself once I got a pic but looks likes you beat me to it loz.

Spark

 

[Butchd]

The wild arrum can be hard to identify from books I think as generally the books show it with black spots on the leaves, and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, even on the same plant.

 

[JonnyP]

:yikes: sounds real bad Jon

I have wondered for a while what the plant that is wild arrum actually is. There is loads of it in the local woods. I was going to post it myself once I got a pic but looks likes you beat me to it loz.

Spark

Yep, tis really bad, you never even want to just taste it....Lethal....
It does look pretty when the fruits come out on them.....Don't try eating them either Loz......

 

[bushtank]

Hi,

Can anyone id these two plants - seen whislt out today testing the new Magikelly GB Hammocks ?

1 - each leave was forked towards the stem,

2 - strong onion smell

Want to know because i did a very silly thing. - I tasted number 1 - and tasted nice for about 10 seconds - like spinach - but then it burnt my mouth like hell !!!

leason learn't - and now to purchase a good flora id book.

The ransoms in the second pic are very good i have found loads in my local woods i have been using them in stir frys lovelyhope you didnt swollow the lord and ladies

 

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

...Is Loz gonna be okay?

 

[loz.]

I'm Grand !!!!

Ok so still alive, but have some small blisters on the side of my tongue and inner cheek.

Nature 1 Loz 0

 

[Matt Weir]

A nice mistletoe and hemlock salad today is it Loz?

I can see a new BBC series here - Extreme Foraging With Loz, BBC2, Tuesdays 21:00.

Sorry mate I was actually a bit concerned earlier. Glad to see you're alive and well(ish).

 

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

I'm Grand !!!!

Ok so still alive, but have some small blisters on the side of my tongue and inner cheek.

Nature 1 Loz 0

I'm glad you're okay.. but seriously... no more tasting strange plants ok? Last thing we need, is a long topic going "the reason you should never eat this plant, is because it killed one of our members... he really should've listenned to Oz"

 

[xylaria]

My father identifys plants by tasting them, and by knowing which ones not to taste. I have never seen him use a field guide dispite me buying him a library of them. He will flick through them if he cant get out, but when he is out he eats nearly anything. His mother taught him as child what to avoid and how to taste plants. My dad does do alot crushing the leaf and sniffing before he puts it in his mouth, and seems to instinctivly know if a plant is dodgy or not before hand.

My dad NEVER TASTES ANY MEMBER THE CARROT FAMILY WITHOUT KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. But I have seen him eat knowingly laburnum seeds, he likes the taste but only eats a small amount. I am a bit more cautious but IMHO tasting plants is by far the fastest way of learning them thoroughly.

Tasting a plant is not the same as eating one. I mean I like the the taste of woody nightshade berries but I wouldn't eat them.

LOZ Avoid tasting anything thing from arums, iris, buttercups, spruges, carrots and lily families please. Other poisonious plants can be tasted. But there are always exceptions.

 

[loz.]

A nice mistletoe and hemlock salad today is it Loz?

I can see a new BBC series here - Extreme Foraging With Loz, BBC2, Tuesdays 21:00.

LOL - It would be a very short series - mainly filmed in A&E

 

[Wenie]

Hope you're feeling better now loz...
Here's a quote about eating different parts of Wild Arum from the book From Agar to Zenry by Ron Freethy:
"It was suggested in a seventeenth century herbal that the berries should be served to a 'sawcey guest' for 'within a while after the taking thereof, it will so burn and pinch his mouth and throat that he shall not be able to eat any more or scarce to speak for pain.' Which seems a somewhat drastic way to get rid of a bore! ... Should the rhizome be eaten raw the taste is most unpleasant, but in times gone by it was carefully dried and found not only to be harmless but so nutritious that it could be used as a substitute for cornflour."

 

[harryhaller]

The second is ramsons or wild garlic, Allilaria petiolata i think...

I love these "what's this" threads

A good test of the field guides and trying to identify from photos with limited info.

The second one looks like ransoms - which is Allium ursinum which must not be confused with lily-of-the-valley or autumn crocus, as the article points out.

 

[Jumbalaya]

In your upper 2 pix you've got Arum maculatum - Lords and Ladies or Cuckoopint are the two common names given to the plant. Leave the plant alone it's all toxic, though the roots can be processed to extract starch. They are not really fit to be eaten cooked as the oxalate crystals don't de-nature enough on heating. I have some details on starch extraction at: http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/arum.htm. This was the process that Gordon Hillman borrowed from me to get his starch in the Mears' wild food book.

The bottom photographs are of Allium ursinum - Ramsons. Very well known as a wild veggie. There are lots of references to using it on the Lovely Grub area.

Best
M

 

[jimford]

According to Ernest Thompson Seton (whose writings you _all_ should be aware of!), the native Americans ate cuckoo pint roots after boiling them. They were a very valuable food resource. They had a special name for them, but I don't have my copy of his 'The Book of Woodcraft' to hand, and can't remember it.

Jim