Spotted Water Hemlock

Spotted Water Hemlock
Cicuta maculata

According to the USDA:

Water hemlock is the most violently toxic plant that grows in North America. Only a small amount of the toxic substance in the plant is needed to produce poisoning in livestock or in humans. The toxin cicutoxin, acting directly on the central nervous system, is a violent convulsant. Clinical signs of poisoning occur when a threshold dose is reached after which grand mal seizures and death occur.

This plant has now changed from another boring Apiaceae into something quite interesting. In fact the Iroquois called it suicide root. This was the method of choice for committing suicide. Then, as now, it was hard to understand why others committed suicide. Their reasoning was that the plant grows in the head of the victim, until it is actually taken, then it comes up later and grows from the grave.

This plant can be dangerous to livestock if they're in a situation where they have access to the roots and ingest them. It's been know to kill people who have mistaken it for something edible, such as Wild Carrot (Daucus carota). My rule of thumb is to not eat anything that looks like a poisonous plant. So far I'm alive.



The leaves are twice pinnate - the divided leaflets are themselves divided



This plant is found mostly in wet spots

The stem is mottled with purple