Poisonous Weeds
From the book Common Poisonous Plants and Mushroom of North America by Nancy J. Turner and Adam F. Szczawinski comes a very interesting story. “In April 1980, a five-year-old child was fatally poisoned in Victoria, British Columbia from eating Poison Hemlock while at play with her sisters. Her babysitter was not even aware that she had eaten the plant. The little girl felt sick and would not eat. She laid down, and within an hour fell into a deep coma. It was only at this point that her sisters recalled that earlier she had eaten a plant. She was rushed to the hospital, but despite all efforts to save her life, she died six days later” (Szczawinski, Turner, xi). Poison Hemlock is just one of the thousands of plants that are poisonous to humans as well as animals. In addition, the plants Jimsonweed and Deadly Nightshade can also have extremely harmful effects on humans. All three of these poisonous plants can turn up anywhere from hiking trails to backyards to fields, so therefore it is important to be able to identify them and understand how deadly they potentially can be.
In order to prevent what happened in the story at the beginning, let’s look more closely at Poison Hemlock (Conium Maculatum). When mature, this carrot-like plant can get up to six feet or greater in height with triangular, fern-like leaves (Szczawinski, Turner, 129). The plant possesses white flowers, which are grouped in numerous umbrella-like clusters. Small, grayish brown, and flat with five curvy ridges running lengthwise describe the fruit of Poison Hemlock. However, beware of ever crushing or even touching this plant because a strong mouse odor will be emitted.
Originally from Europe, Poison Hemlock is now an obnoxiou...
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...ipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadly_Nightshade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_Hemlock
Natural Resources Conservation Service-http://plants.usda.gov
Research and Extension Center: Virtual Herbarium-http://uvalde.tamu.edu/herbarium/dain.htm
National Capital Poison Center- http://www.poison.org/prevent/plants.asp
Ophthalmic Kew Garden- http://www.mrcophth.com/plants/minipicturesofplantsforeyes.html
Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University-Bozeman and MSU Extension Services Noxious Weed Specialist, respectively- http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt200013.html
Poison Hemlock Site- http://museum.gov.ns.ca/poison/hemlock.htm
the name of a poisonous plant. This is quite scary as the home of the
Rabbit tobacco can be used medicinally in several ways. Smoking the leaves is good for sinusitis, head colds, and congestion. In hot teas, it is used to treat sore throats, fevers, diarrhea, colds, flu, pneumonia, asthma, and coughs, as well as a mild nerve sedative, a diuretic, and an antispasmodic. My grandmother said it was most often used in her home as a salve made of lard and ground up leaves. It was applied to the chest and back and caused profuse sweating. The effect is similar to Vicks in that it helped open up breathing passages. It is also believed by the Cherokee, as well as other Native American tribes, to help cleanse a house after a person’s absence or to cleanse the body after accidental contact with “bad medicine".
Timmons, J. B., Alldredge, B., Rogers, W. E., & Cathey, J. C. (2012). Feral hogs negatively affect native plant communities. Informally published manuscript, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M , College Station, TX, Retrieved from http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/files/2010/04/feral-hogs-native-plants.pdf
CThe Californian thistle weeds control program is one of the programs that Brain was not really that happy with due to the results. The success of the program was mixed, as after the second application of Pasture Boss some of the Californian thistles still regenerated from their root systems. Even though it was a relatively small proportion that regenerated, for the cost and the time taken to carry out the process it was believed that the results were not good enough. From this, I think that the money being spent on the control of the Californian thistles is not totally being returned in increased yields and therefore it is not an a compete adequate system.
In Derbyshire, the juice of the, stalk is applied to remove warts, (Anonymous, 1999, Taraxacum officinale).
According to Miller (2002), toad venom can be harvested, dried, and smoking. Death can occur if a person swallows enough to cause hallucinations. Smoking toad venom can cause you to pass out upon inhale, increase in heart rate, intense emotional experiences, altered consciousness and hallucinations ( visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory) (p. 61). According to Addiction Library, bufotenin users may seem as if they are in an alternate universe. Many Bufotenin users experience a strong spiritual
When comparing the two texts "A Poison Tree" by William Blake and "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, several noticeable similarities can be found. The most obvious connection between the poem and the story is the theme of revenge, although that is not the only reason these writings correspond with one another. Murder is commited in the poem and the story by both the speaker in "A Poison Tree" and Montresor, the protagonist of "The Cask of Amontillado". Lastly, both characters use some form of deceit in order to get revenge on their foes (death). Deceit, murder, and revenge are three ways that the two pieces of text are similar.
The local North Texas nature reserve where this experiment was conducted is the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, a 200-acre park. There are three ecoregions within this reserve: Blackland Prairie, Riparian Forest, and Upland Forest. The experiment will be conducted in the area of the park that is classified as Blackland Prairie. The prairie areas are currently in restoration by methods of seeding, mowing, and controlled burning. This is the same ecoregion familiar to the early settlers of the area.
Poison Ivy is the name given to a family of malicious remote administration Trojans first developed in 2005 and still being utilized for cyber attacks today. As a type of remote administration software, once a computer becomes infected the attacker has complete control of the computer. The most recently documented large-scale utilization of the software was during the “Nitro” attacks from July 2011 through September 2011 that targeted both chemical and defense companies for the purpose of industrial espionage (Fisher). The information security firm McAfee stated that five multinational natural gas and oil companies were successfully targeted by the Poison Ivy malware, as well as 29 other companies identified by Symantec (Finkle). These organizations lost proprietary information to the attackers, including confidential bidding plans (for the energy companies) and details on manufacturing processes and formulas (for several chemical companies).
Plant defences are those mechanisms employed by plants in response to herbivory and parasitism. According to Hanley et al. (2007), “the tissues of virtually all terrestrial, freshwater, and marine plants have qualities that to some degree reduce herbivory, including low nitrogen concentration, low moisture content, toxins or digestibility-reducing compounds”. The type of chemical defence may be species specific (Scott 2008). The defences that plants possess may be in the form of chemical production or in the form of physical defences such as thorns or spikes and even through reinforced, rigid leaves. “The compounds that are produced in response to herbivory can either have a direct effect on the attacker itself (e.g. toxins or digestibility reducers), or serve as indirect defenses by attracting the natural enemies of the herbivores” (Bezemer & van Dam 2005). This essay will focus on chemical plant defences and in particular the effects of terpenes, phenolics, nitrogen-based defences as well as allelopathy in plants.
Since we are accustomed to a life full of modern conveniences, it is important to remember that human survival still depends on the planet's natural diversity. Pennsylvania has 25,000 species of plants and animals, with more than 2,100 being native (IConserve, 2007). It is critical to appreciate the sustainable use of these natural resources that influence our beautiful state’s economic health and quality of life of all Pennsylvanians. Yet many threats to our home’s biodiversity are present. One significant threat is invasive plant species that are eliminating native plant species. Invasive plants are plants which grow aggressively, spreading and displacing other plants (Ball, 2002). Whether it is intentional or not, they are often introduced by humans. On the other hand, native plants are pants that existed within Pennsylvania before European settlement. Because they are meant to grow here, they are quite beneficial to the environment as well as people (Fell 1995). In order to preserve Pennsylvania’s health and natural beauty, it is essential to control the growth of invasive plant species while supporting the growth of native plant species.
“(Silent Spring) spells out in memorable detail through out the book the effects of synthetic insecticides and herbicides on water, soil, plants, wildlife, fish and human beings. But in the book’s final chapter she suggests alternative courses of action for mankind —- a way out of this march toward death.” (Holmes, Pg. 123)
Finally, methanol poisonous wood alcohol that has blinded and killed thousands of converts after ingestion of formaldehyde and formic acid (the main component of the venom of the sting of fire ants). Formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin that is stored in adipose tissue, particularly in the hips and thighs, is used to embalm corpses and violent is a carcinogen.
Atrazine, an herbicide is one the most toxic and sustaining pollutants in aquatic environment. It is detectable in surface water and in underground sources of drinking water. Many studies indicate that atrazine might be a potent endocrine-disrupting xenobiotic. There are limited studies have revealed that the effects of atrazine on sex steroids hormones, vitellogenin and induction of aromatase, gonadosomatic index and hepatosomatic index. In this study, juveniles Poecilia sphenops fish was exposed to three different (0.83ppm, 1.25ppm and 2.5ppm) concentration of atrazine for 100 days. Changes in plasma and gonadal content and concentrations of sex steroids and vitellogenin protein in poecilia sphenops under laboratory conditions were assessed. The low level of the Atrazine show estrogenic effect in males, as determined by a shortage of testosterone induction. Present study suggests that low induction of plasma vitellogenin and aromatase in male fish become suitable biomarkers of exposure to estrogenic chemicals.
Ulex europaeus (gorse), a notorious weed in New Zealand, was noted to be part of the introduce...