Seizures, uncontrollable bowel movements, and death.
These are just a few of the many symptoms you might experience if you were to accidentally consume water hemlock (Cicuta spp.), one of North America's most deadly plants, and quite likely its most violently toxic.
Unfortunately, to the untrained eye, it can easily be confused for several other much more harmless, and even edible plants in the carrot family, which is why beginner foraging advice often includes the recommendation to avoid most wild carrot family plants at first.
Here, we'll talk about water hemlock's identification, toxicity, and even possible uses (not for trying at home!).
Plants in this video:
Water Hemlock (Cicuta spp.*)
Family: Apiaceae (Carrot Family)
Other Names: cowbane, poison parsnip, beaver poison, false parsley, snakeweed, children's-bane, musquach-poison, muskrat weed, suicide root (Iriquois), cicutaire (French), ciguë aquatique (Fr), ciguë vireuse (Fr), cicuta de agua (Spanish), wasserschierlinge (German), Вёх ядови́тый (Russian), sprängört (Swedish), szalej jadowity (Polish), myrkkykeiso (Finnish), waterscheerling (Dutch), віха́ отруйна (Ukrainian), 毒芹 (Chinese)
*The four currently recognized species are Cicuta maculata, C. bulbifera, C. douglasii, and C. virosa.
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Family: Apiaceae (Carrot Family)
Credits:
Music: 'The Cascades' by Scott Joplin, played by Sam
Images:
Map of Klamath Ancestral Lands: Toz Soto, Klamath Resource Information System
Socrates: Ben Crowe, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Hand Holding Hemlock: Aaron Volkening, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Arracacha: Dick Culbert, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Chervil: rainerburkard, iNaturalist, CC-BY 2.0
Pignut: Francesco Gasparetti, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Skirret: Shutterstock
Poison Hemlock 1: Paige Filler, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Poison Hemlock 2: Under the same moon, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0
Gairdners Yampah: Andrey Zharkikh, flickr.com, CC-BY 2.0