Don't Eat This!!

While wandering through the Alaskan wilderness, I've found many interesting and beautiful things. The rainforest is a bountiful place, filled with delicious edibles everywhere you turn. Unfortunately, there are some pretty deadly culprits out there. Feeling suicidal? Here are some of the worst possible things you can eat in Juneau!!

This is called False Hellebore (genus Veratrum). This plant contains highly toxic steroidal alkaloids that when ingested will cause rapid cardiac failure and death. 30 min- 4 hours after eating hellebore, you'll experience nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, numbness, headache, sweating, cardiac arrhythmia and seizures. So if that's what you're looking to experience, make sure to eat either the roots or the rhizomes, since those are the most poisonous parts.

This is Poison Water Hemlock (genus Cicuta). Water hemlocks contain cicutoxin, which acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system. This is one of North America's most toxic plants, so you really shouldn't mess with it. Very small amounts can lead to fatal poisoning. You'll start to experience symptoms within 15 min of ingestion, and even just rubbing it into the skin can kill you.. so don't do that either. Symptoms of water hemlock poisoning include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, tremors and seizures. The seizures are the biggest problem with this poisoning, and are often the first symptom. Prolonged seizures will often result in swelling in the brain, blood coagulation, muscle breakdown and kidney failure. You may also experience hallucinations or go into a coma. Death happens within hours, usually from respiratory failure or uncoordinated heart contractions.

 

This little purple flower is called Monkshood or Wolfsbane (genus Aconitum). This plant contains aconitine, a powerful neurotoxin. The first symptoms occur within the hour. Death soon follows 4-6 hours later. After ingestion, you will soon experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. A burning, numbness and tingling around the mouth and face, and a burning in the abdomen are also common. Death is caused by uncoordinated heart contractions, lack of electrical activity in the heart, and paralysis of the heart or respiratory center. Sounds pretty fun, right? Well, guess what.. you can also die just by picking the leaves of this plant, so don't even play with it! The aconitine toxin from oozing sap absorbs easily through the skin- how convenient! A strange tingling sensation will work its way from your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder and stop your heart without you even having to put it in your mouth. Now how about that?

This plant is called Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra). The dose I hold in the palm of my hand is enough to kill me.. and as few as two berries is enough to kill a small child. Don't worry- I didn't eat them! They're awfully pretty though. The fruit contains ranunculine and the roots contain β-sitosterol glucoside. The berries are the most toxic portion of the plant, but the whole thing is poisonous. Accidental deaths from baneberry are rare since the berries are so incredibly bitter. Ingestion causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse, and severe gastrointestinal discomfort. The toxins also have an immediate sedative effect on the cardiac muscle tissue, leading to cardiac arrest.

In the case study Bacon, A.E. An Experiment with the fruit of the [Acetaea ruba] . Rhodora 5: 77(1903), baneberry is purposely ingested.. NOT RECOMMENDED! This experimental self-intoxication, however, did not lead to death, so the experience was recorded! So if you'd like to know how it feels to eat baneberry, don't do it! Just read this account instead and spare yourself the trouble.


"At first there was a most extraordinary pyrotechnic display of blue objects of all sizes and tints, circular with irregular edges; as one became interested in the spots a heavy weight was lowered on the top of the head and remained there, while sharp pains shot through the temples.

Then suddenly the mind became confused and there was a total disability to recollect anything distinctly or arrange ideas with any coherency. On an attempt to talk, wrong names were given to objects, and although at the same time the mind knew mistakes were made in speech, the words seemed to utter themselves independently.

For a few minutes there was great dizziness, the body seeming to swing off into space, while the blue spots changed to dancing sparks of fire. The lips and throat became parched and the latter somewhat constricted; swallowing was rather difficult; there was intense burning in the stomach with gaseous eructations, followed by sharp colicky pains in the abdomen and also pain across the back over the kidneys. The pulse rose to 125, was irregular, wiry, tense; the heart fluttered most unpleasantly.

These symptoms lasted about an hour and were followed by a feeling of great weariness, but in three hours from the time of taking the dose all seemed to be again normal"

Pretty crazy stuff.

Here are some nice elderberries. I think you'll be glad to note that if you eat some, you won't drop dead. Yay! You'd have to eat a lot of elderberries over the course of your life in order to cause some serious damage. This plant contains cyanide in its stems, leaves, seeds and roots, so eventually a fatal buildup of cyanide in the body can occur, damaging the liver. I'm told that if I eat parts of this plant regularly, instead of living to be 80, I'll be 60. The berry pulp is safe, but you would have to remove all the fine seeds before ingesting any.

And this is The Sickener (Russula emetica). With a name like that, who wouldn't want to eat it? If you're craving a severe case of vomiting and diarrhea, this is the mushroom for you! It has a red cap, white stalk, and has a strong peppery taste. It won't kill you, however. The sesquiterpenes in this fungus just make you really, really sick.

So that's that. Time for a snack!