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Poison: Water Hemlock

Jul 2, 2009
Melissa
General Posts, Identification, Look-Alikes, Poisonous or Toxic
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Or should I say: Extremely Poison: Water Hemlock.

poison: water hemlock

poison: water hemlock

Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) literally has me trembling. This (and it’s cousin, Poison Hemlock, or Conium maculatum) are the reason we advise all on our walks (especially children) NOT to eat the edible Wild Carrot, or Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). Look how much the flower looks like Queen Anne’s Lace:

poison: water hemlock flower

poison: water hemlock flower

Wild Carrot Flower and Leaves, picture from Wiki, Gnu Free Licensing

Wild Carrot Flower and Leaves, picture from Wiki, Gnu Free Licensing


Water Hemlock is DEADLY and the risk of confusing the two is just not worth it.

We found Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) growing all through Schenely Park in Pittsburgh. The leaves are quite different from that of Wild Carrot:

poison: water hemlock leaves

poison: water hemlock leaves

…so they are not impossible to tell apart. Still, if one were just learning, or not paying attention, or didn’t know something deadly so closely resembled something edible, they might make a mistake.

So again, this is why we advise people not to eat Wild Carrots (it’s too risky a mistake), and why we don’t eat them ourselves.

Hemlocks don’t smell like carrots the way wild carrots do, and that is another way to tell them apart. Again, it’s not that they look/are exactly the same, it’s just they are close enough, and grow in overlapping places and the risk is just too high.

According to the book Edible Wild Plants, this plant’s toxic alkaloids can cause nervousness, trembling (it causes me trembling just to look at it!), reduced heartbeat, coma, and respiratory failure/death.

Have fun and please stay safe,
~ Melissa
Food Under Foot

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  • Debra1McCreery

    I had a horse die after drinking creek water where he had bruised the plant with his hooves. First symptoms were stroke-like. He semi-recovered and died a month later from damage to his heart muscle.

  • Wow, thanks so much for sharing this. This plant (and poison hemlock) are why we make it a rule in our family not to eat wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) which is edible, but too easy to confuse, especially for a child. Very sobering.
    ~ Melissa

  • Name

    It's likely the plant you learned about in science class was not water hemlock, but the conifer also called hemlock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

  • jessiy

    wow i really didnt know that
    in my science class we learned that we could use hemlock in strips like spaghetti or to make a great tea

  • Yikes! Maybe it was a different herb/plant that looked like this? I'm glad to get this information out there! Stay safe,
    ~ Melissa

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