CHILDREN SHOULD BEWARE OF POISON HEMLOCK PLANT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 90, 1 September 1950, Page 7

CHILDREN SHOULD BEWARE OF POISON HEMLOCK PLANT

Bay of Plenty children who find overgrown building sections and untended paddocks suitable places for their holiday games are warned to avoid the hemlock plant which is due to reappear soon. If they chew any part of this plant, particularly the berries, they may share the fate of Betty, a 10 year old elephant, late of Wirth’s Circus, who died after eating a trunkful of hemlock at Lower Hutt last summer. Hemlock may be recognised by its feathery, bright green leaves, purple-blotched stems, and small white flowers. The plant has an unpleasant smell, especially if bruised. The poisonous property of hemlock lies in “conine,” which is to be found in all parts of the plant and especially the fresh leaves and fruit. The drug acts by a paralysis which, when it affects the respiratory nerves, causes death by asphyxia.

The plant flourishes on waste ground. Although it is classified as a noxious weed there are still some section owners who do not root it out.

Greenery for decorative purposes is not always easy to find, and housewives sometimes use the feathery hemlock leaves to makje up for the lack of more orthodox material. They should remember that they are putting within the reach of the children of their families what has been called “potted poison.”