Poisonous plants: names, description, photo. Original salad "Anthill" with sausage and corn
Getting out into nature, you need to be very careful, as we can be surrounded.
From our article you can find out the name and description of the most common poisonous plants.
Daphne
Represented by a slightly branched deciduous, about 1.5 meters high. Has a superficial root system. You can identify the bush by the yellowish-gray, slightly wrinkled bark. Flowering begins in early spring. 
It has narrow, long leaves, painted in dark green. Their length is up to 8 cm, and their width is up to 2 cm. The flowers are arranged in a "bouquet", collected in 3-5 pieces.
Important! In spite of beautiful bloom"Wolfberry", using branches to create bouquets is extremely dangerous. The intoxicating smell causes severe headaches and can lead to fainting.
Due to the fact that the flower is poisonous, it is rarely used in decorative purposes. The release of sharply burning poisonous juice from the fruits makes it impossible to use the shrub in medicine.
You can get poisoned by eating or chewing the bark. If wet bark or juice of berries gets on the skin, this will cause the development of severe dermatitis. Inhalation of dust from the bark of the wolfberry irritates the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, and if it gets into the eyes, conjunctivitis develops.
After eating the berries, you can feel a burning sensation in the oral cavity, nausea and vomiting may begin, the victim will feel weak. Seizures may also occur. 
Castor bean
The plant is represented by shrubs, the height of which can reach 2 meters. They have broad, well-branched stems. The foliage is quite large, green in color, has from 5 to 10 lobes.
They have a nondescript look. The fruits look like an oval-spherical box, on top of which there are spikes, the diameter is 3 cm.
ordinary - a poisonous plant. It contains two dangerous substances: ricin and ricinin.Ricin is found in the seed coat and is the most poisonous substance in the shrub. The use of seeds can lead to poisoning, which in most cases ends in death. 
Ricinin is found in all other parts of the bush - in foliage, seeds and cake. The critical dose is: for an adult - 20 seeds, for a child - 6 seeds.
The insidiousness of this plant lies in the fact that the signs of poisoning are not immediately noticeable. It takes at least a day for the symptoms to show up.
Poisoning is accompanied by severe tingling in the abdomen, bloody diarrhea, fever, weakness.
Ricin provokes agglutination of erythrocytes, which leads to a violation of capillary circulation - blood clots are formed, a brain hemorrhage may occur. 
hogweed
Belongs to biennial plants, has stems different heights- from 20 to 250 cm. It has long-leaved leaves of large sizes, small flowers white color, which are collected in umbrellas with a diameter of up to 40 cm.
Flowering occurs in June, in some species it can continue until August.
Important! Immediately after mowing the plant, it must be burned, because due to the large supply nutrients seeds continue to ripen even in mowed hogweed.
In its leaves, stems and fruits accumulate photodynamic active furocoumarins that can affect the skin. They are especially dangerous in sunny days- it is during this period that the juice of the plant, getting on the skin, leads to the appearance of dermatitis, similar to burns. 
Blisters may appear on the affected area, which eventually turn into dark spots. They completely disappear only after 3-6 months. If the previously affected area of sunlight hits, a relapse may occur.
If it gets into the eyes, hogweed juice provokes blindness. If as a result of exposure to the juice on the skin, 80% of the body surface is affected, this is fatal.
Delphinium
Quite often, poisonous flowers are disguised as beautiful and harmless. This is exactly what and is. It belongs to perennials, has hollow stems.
Did you know?Delphinium was well known to the ancient Greeks, who considered it the "flower of sorrow" that grew out of the body of the hero Ajax. Perhaps the plant got its name due to the fact that its flower bud resembles a dolphin.
Attracts attention due to the dark blue flowers that are collected in a brush. Plant height can be from 50 to 200 cm. 
Many years ago, the flower was used to combat wearable insects, but then they began to actively investigate the poison contained in its foliage and roots. As it turned out, delphiniums contain alkaloids that have an effect similar to the famous South American poison curare.
It became clear that it is better not to touch these flowers. In addition, some of these alkaloids are identical to aconite alkaloids.
The juice contains elatin, methyllicaconitin, condelphin and eldenine. Once in the human body, it causes respiratory paralysis, leading to heart damage and death.
Buttercup
The habitat of the flower is damp, wetlands, banks of reservoirs. Represented by an annual or biennial plant with a hollow branched stem 20-45 cm in height. 
It has fleshy shiny foliage, small light yellow flowers, the diameter of which is 7-10 mm. Flowering begins at the end of May and continues all summer.
The poisonous substance contained in the plant is protoanemonin, a volatile toxin with a pungent odor and burning taste. Poisoning with them can occur if the plant is incorrectly applied as remedy. It is present only in fresh plants, as it disappears during drying. 
The penetration of the toxin into the body leads to inflammation of the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract. Inhalation of the toxin causes tearing, it starts to cut in the eyes, there are spasms in the throat, cough and runny nose.
Lily of the valley
Lilies of the valley are herbaceous, whose habitat is forest zones, pine forests, glades, river channels.
The flower has a stem, which is about 25 cm long, large green leaves and a couple of dozen small white bell-shaped inflorescences.Flowering occurs in May and June. Lily of the valley berries are highly toxic, and poisonous as fresh flower, and dried.
Important! Collect lily of the valley flowers for later use in medicinal purposes possible only before the start of its flowering period.
Lily of the valley is actively used in medicine, however, violation of the dosage and method of its use can lead to poisoning. 
In case of poisoning:
- drowsiness occurs;
- the rhythm of the heart is disturbed;
- hallucinations occur;
- weakness begins.
Henbane black
A distinctive feature of this plant is the presence bad smell. The flower has an upright, branched stem, on top of which there are glandular hairs. It can reach up to 140 cm in height.
The leaves are oblong, dark green above, lighter below. The flowers are quite large, with a grayish corolla. You can see a few purple streaks on it. Flowering falls on the period July - August. Most often found on roadsides. 
Henbane is completely poisonous, it contains substances such as atropine and scopolamine, capable of blocking the parasympathetic nerves. You can get poisoned by eating young sprouts or seeds.
Symptoms of poisoning appear after about 10-15 minutes and are characterized by dry mouth, it becomes difficult to swallow and speak, pupils dilate, hallucinations and tachycardia occur.
It's no secret that the natural world is extremely diverse and multifaceted. The gifts of our Earth, plants, we use every day. However, do not forget that among the representatives of the flora living in different parts of the world, there are a huge number of potentially dangerous to human life and health. Should not be underestimated possible harm from meeting with poisonous herbs, berries, mushrooms.
Belladonna's yellow and black berries are especially poisonous, however, the stems and leaves also contain poison.
From Belladonna received Chemical substance atropine, which has a strong effect on the central nervous system, for example, under its action pupils dilate.
This property of Belladonna made it a favorite potion of "beauty" among Italians in the old days, from there the name of the plant came from, which means " beautiful woman". Atropine is now used in traditional medicine. The action of such, even modern drugs, however, can hardly be called absolutely safe.
The first signs of Belladonna poisoning may be:
Possible hallucinations, disorder of consciousness.
The first aid in this case will be an emergency gastric lavage with potassium permanganate.
hogweed
This name of a poisonous plant is familiar to many, because only in our country there are more than 40 species of Hogweed (not all of them are poisonous).
It is not difficult to recognize it: the hogweed is large and, as a rule, tall plant(can reach 2.5 meters) with small white flowers collected in "umbrellas". Very often, Hogweed grows along country roads.
Its danger lies in the fact that this plant is capable of leaving a serious burn on the skin, especially on a sunny day. The reason for this is the substance furanocoumarins, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, they enhance their effect. The very touch of the leaves of Hogweed is painless in itself, until the sunlight begins to actively enter the site of the lesion. The consequences can be a second-degree burn. It is extremely dangerous for the juice of the plant to get into the eyes. The result can be complete or partial loss of vision.
As a first aid for a burn with Hogweed, you need to disinfect the affected area of the skin with furatsilin or potassium permanganate and smear Bepanten ointment.
Hogweed must be disposed of by carefully cutting off the buds (strictly in closed clothing and gloves). It will also be useful to use herbicides.
Crow's eye four leaf
The raven eye is a poisonous plant, quite attractive in appearance: in the center is a rosette of 4 leaves, and above them is one bright purple berry. All parts of the Crow's Eye are dangerous to life and health: berries for the heart, leaves for the central nervous system, roots for the stomach. Children often become victims of this poisonous plant, they are attracted by unusual berries, somewhat similar to blueberries or blueberries.
Signs of poisoning, depending on the part eaten, will be sharp pains in the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions or cardiac arrest.
If poisoning with the Crow's eye is suspected, an urgent gastric lavage should be done. It will not be superfluous to also take Regidron.
Consider 2 more poisonous plants common throughout Russia.
Lily of the valley
It is unlikely that anyone needs a visual description of the poisonous lily of the valley plant. Many have heard about dangerous properties this beautiful and beloved plant, but, nevertheless, few people take this information seriously. But in vain! Lily of the valley has very strong chemical properties, it is often used in minimal doses in pharmacology, and in general, it has proven itself well as an assistant in the fight against heart disease.
However, it is worth remembering that this plant is extremely poisonous and dangerous if thoughtlessly used on its own. Two or three berries eaten by a child during a walk in the forest can lead to a quick death!
With pallor of the skin, heart rhythm disturbance, weakness and nausea, it is urgent to induce vomiting, later take sorbents.
Wolf's bast
Poisoning by a poisonous plant Wolf's bark or Wolfberry, as it is also called extremely dangerous. Outwardly, it looks like a shrub with glossy leaves and clusters. bright red fleshy berries that attract the eye. Despite its beauty, this plant is almost never used as an ornamental landscaping. Wolfberry contains a set of toxic substances. From one smell flowering plant a headache may ache, and if you eat more than 5 berries, a fatal outcome is extremely likely.
High salivation, burns, indigestion, burning in the eyes and mouth, bloody gastric secretions - this is an incomplete list of symptoms of poisoning by this most dangerous plant. If the victim can still be saved, he is nevertheless guaranteed severe consequences for life associated with bad job hearts.
Not only harm, but also benefit
Perhaps, reading this article, many will wonder - why, in fact, poisonous plants are needed?
There are no superfluous links in nature: it is unique and thought out. Poison properties certain types plants for humans is a disadvantage, while for the plants themselves it is the ability to evolve. Growth, survival, the ability to adapt to changing conditions - all this, many plants owe precisely to their toxicity.
In addition, over time, a person nevertheless learned to use harmful properties many herbs, flowers and berries for your benefit. An example of this is a huge number of medicines created on the basis of poisonous plants.
Interestingly, the most dangerous plants in the world are not necessarily some exotic tropical killer plants that we expect to see in an Amazon jungle movie or lost worlds in Papua New Guinea. On the contrary, the plant that kills the most people in the world can be found in every second large flower garden, it is also grown on thousands of plantations around the world. Similarly, the most poisonous plant in the world, included in the Guinness Book of Records, grows throughout the southern strip of Russia and Ukraine, is often cultivated specifically as an ornamental plant, and poison is also obtained from its fruits (which, by the way, poisoned some famous people), and even medicinal raw materials.
And we recall once again that dangerous plants are not necessarily poisonous. They can injure and even kill not only with poisons. Look here...
1. Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide moroidea)
The stinging tree isn't really a tree. This is a large shrub from the nettle family.
The tropical relative of our nettle, the stinging tree, is much more stinging and dangerous.
This plant grows in Australia, the Moluccas and Indonesia and is known to the natives for its leaves dangerous to humans. Upon contact of the skin with this plant, the victim receives a severe burn. Extensive blisters appear at the site of the burn.
Burns received from a stinging tree heal for a very long time and can disturb the victim from several days to several months. Even one case of human death after contact with a stinging tree is known.
In addition to humans, various animals periodically suffer from burns of this plant. There are quite a few cases where dogs and even horses received burns.
Interestingly, some animals, including insects and birds, are not susceptible to stinging tree stings. This allows them to feed on the leaves and fruits of it.
2. Castor bean
Castor oil is a medicinal and ornamental plant, common in the warm climates of both hemispheres. Often this plant can also be found here, planted in flower beds in large cities or near fences in the countryside.
Castor oil in the private sector in Donetsk
It is from castor beans that they make a well-known remedy for constipation - Castor oil. And it is she who is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most poisonous plant in the world. Its seeds contain ricin, a toxin that is six times more poisonous than the known potassium cyanide.
On a note
Georgy Markov - a journalist and writer - was killed in 1978 by ricin, which turned out to be an autopsy. A stranger on the street, using a special umbrella, injected the journalist with a ricin capsule into the calf muscle, from which Georgy died the next day, despite the doctors' attempts to save his life.
In addition to ricin, castor bean contains another poison - ricinin.
The poisonousness of this plant is so great that only ten castor bean seeds will be enough to fatally poison an adult. If ricin itself is extracted from the seeds, lethal dose it will fit on the point of a pin. Given that this toxin is relatively easy to obtain, it is often used by terrorists. For example, at the destroyed base of al-Qaeda, a whole for the production of it was found.
This amount of seeds is enough to kill an adult human.
It is not surprising that castor bean confidently occupies the first lines in many ratings of the TOP 10 most dangerous plants in the world.
3. Manchine
The manchineel or manchineel tree is one of the most poisonous plants on Earth.
As a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, this plant contains poisonous, burning milky juice in all its parts. At the same time, all its fruits look and smell very appetizing, and the burning sensation in the mouth does not appear immediately, which has repeatedly led to poisoning of people.
So, there are several cases when sailors who escaped death on the water met this plant on land and, taking it for edible, ate it. Poisoning was not always fatal (burning juice did not allow to eat much), but fatal cases are also known.
The fruits of the manchineel look quite appetizing and it is not surprising that a person who finds himself in the rainforest for the first time is willing to taste them.
The juice of this plant is dangerous not only when taken orally: when it gets on the skin, it causes severe burns, and when it gets into the eyes, it causes severe pain, and sometimes blindness.
Where manchine grows, they try not to graze livestock. Destroying the plant with axes and saws without protecting the skin and eyes is difficult because of its milky juice. Even burning wood can make you sick if the smoke gets into your eyes.
4. Belladonna
Belladonna - poisonous herbaceous plant from the Solanaceae family. By the way, many representatives of this family are known for their toxicity.
Atropine, which is part of belladonna, even in small doses, can cause a strong arousal in a person, turning into bouts of insanity and violence.
Most often, people are poisoned by the berries of this plant, which, despite their toxicity, taste very good.
It is interesting
Only recently on the Internet thundered sad story about vegan Igor, who ate belladonna berries on the way to Ai-Petri. Igor liked the taste of the berries, and therefore he considered them safe (one of the common misconceptions is to consider all tasty plants edible) and ate them in large quantities. Doctors could not save Igor.
Belladonna can be found in almost the entire temperate zone, and after tasting the berries, you will not immediately deny yourself the pleasure of eating more ...
In case of poisoning, dryness and burning sensation in the mouth occurs, the heartbeat quickens. Sometimes poisoning is accompanied by delusions and hallucinations. With severe poisoning, paralysis of the respiratory center is possible, leading to death.
5. Crow's eye
This plant from the melanthaceae family is one of the most poisonous in the world.
And if in some plants only certain parts of them are poisonous, then raven eye completely poisonous: the rhizome causes nausea and vomiting, the leaves act on the central nervous system, the fruits have negative impact on the heart.
Most often, children are poisoned by this plant, eating its fruits - small black shiny berries up to 1 cm in diameter. In fact, this plant got its name from characteristic appearance berries, "sitting" independently on a grassy shoot.
The raven eye is a well-recognized plant, so its berries are mainly eaten by children who do not know anything about its toxicity.
In case of poisoning, vomiting and diarrhea, dizziness and convulsions are observed, but the biggest danger is cardiac arrest.
The raven eye is forbidden to be used for medical purposes, which is another indication of its poisonousness.
6. Sosnovsky's hogweed
This is perhaps one of the most famous plants in the expanses of the former USSR. The sad glory of hogweed Sosnovsky is associated with burns that remain on the human body after contact with it.
It is noteworthy that the hogweed juice itself does not leave burns. But it also significantly increases the sensitivity of the skin to the ultraviolet and visible spectrum of solar radiation. Thus, even a short exposure to the sun after contact with the plant leads to terrible burns that do not heal for a long time, the scars from which can remain on the body for more than a year.
In addition to the danger to humans, Sosnovsky's hogweed is also a malicious weed, which is very difficult to fight.
Severe burns covering more than 80% of the skin can be fatal.
Among other things, Sosnovsky's hogweed juice contains substances that cause a mutagenic effect. It is not surprising that in the TOP-5 dangerous plants in Russia, hogweed always occupies one of the first lines.
7. Spotted hemlock
Many species of the umbrella family, which include hemlock, are dangerous to humans due to their toxicity. So the relatives of the hemlock include hemlock, which was most widely used for death penalty in Ancient Greece. Spotted hemlock is not only one of the most dangerous in this family: this plant is one of the most poisonous in the world.
The composition of hemlock tissues includes a number of alkaloids. The most poisonous among them is horse meat, which has a nerve-paralytic effect.
In case of hemlock poisoning, the victim increases salivation, visual impairment is observed, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea may occur. However, the danger to life is the so-called ascending paralysis: the feet are taken away and lose sensitivity, then the paralysis gradually “rises” upward until it reaches the diaphragm and causes suffocation.
On a note
According to the latest data, it was the hemlock spotted that was poisoned by the famous ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. There is a constant debate among researchers about this, for a long time it was believed that Socrates took hemlock poison. Today, there is more and more evidence that the “official” poison in ancient Greece was still hemlock, and it was with its help that the philosopher was executed.
In places where there is a lot of hemlock, a long stay near its thickets can cause headaches only from the pollen of flowers.
There are cases when people were poisoned with hemlock, confusing it with other plants. So, for example, some ate hemlock root, believing that it was horseradish root, others confused hemlock leaves with parsley leaves. There are also cases when hemlock seeds were mistaken for anise seeds. By the way, this is also notable for hemlock and other dangerous plants from the umbrella family - they do not at all give the impression of being unusual and people do not expect that such a simple-looking “grass” can pose a threat to life. This is the deceit of the hemlock and its relatives.
8. Fluffy toxicodendron, also known as deer-horned sumac
This small shrub, slightly taller than a man, does not belong to poisonous plants, as such. Its main trump card is urushiol, an oily toxin found in given plant and causing severe allergies. Even a light touch to the toxicodendron can be enough to cause a severe allergic reaction.
Due to its beautiful foliage, sumac is often grown as an ornamental plant and if no parts of it are eaten, then it does not pose a danger.
However, dermatitis is not the main danger: in some cases, an allergic reaction develops so rapidly that anaphylactic shock followed by loss of consciousness and suffocation. Moreover, if you do not provide medical care death can occur within minutes.
9. Strychnos poisonous
Strychnos - liana from South America. It gained its fame thanks to the poison (curare) contained in the roots and stems of the plant. It is with this poison, when going hunting, that the local Indians lubricate the arrowheads, and the liana itself in this respect was a competitor of the famous poison dart frogs, whose glands secrete an even stronger toxin - batrachotoxin.
Curare contains two toxic alkaloids - strychnine and brucine. Each of these poisons causes different symptoms, but in the end leads to the same result - death.
It is believed that death from poisons contained in strychnos is one of the most terrible and painful.
Strychnine belongs to the first hazard class (very toxic substances) and is almost twice as toxic as potassium cyanide. When ingested, it causes severe convulsions of the whole body and respiratory paralysis, leading to death.
Brucine is slightly less toxic than strychnine. Once in the body of the victim, it causes muscle cramps, which are aggravated by exposure to sound and light. Also, this alkaloid increases the heart rate with subsequent cardiac arrest.
10. Tobacco
Agree, it would be unfair not to mention it. Yes, he does not kill immediately. Yes, its leaves, along with nicotine, contain the alkaloid anabazine, which can lead to poisoning when eating the leaves, but it is not as toxic as the components of the plants listed above. But it is tobacco smoking that, according to statistics, leads to the death of more than 5 million people worldwide. No other even the most poisonous and deadly plant can compare with it in its "striking" ability. Perhaps even all the other poisonous plants put together will not catch up with tobacco in terms of the number of people killed. And at the same time, tobacco is the champion in terms of cultivation area among all others. cultivated plants not used for food. There is a large dose of absurdity in this: people spend enormous resources on cultivating a plant that kills them ...
Interestingly, tobacco is often grown as an ornamental plant. In this form, it is completely safe if it is not eaten or smoked.
Tobacco plantations where people grow a killer plant...
It is important to remember that most plants are dangerous only when, out of ignorance or stupidity, people themselves are poisoned or injured by them - they eat unfamiliar berries and fruits, push wide hogweed leaves with their hands, tear hemlock leaves instead of parsley. Therefore, always before you find yourself in nature, even in an area familiar to you, find out what dangerous plants you can find here, why they are dangerous and what absolutely cannot be done with them. It may save your life or the life of your children...
Dangerous plants are plants that may pose a threat to human life or health. Moreover, in the wild nature, such dangers of many plants that are not relevant for a person in a civilized area can manifest themselves.
Very often, the concept of "dangerous plants" is considered as a synonym for the term "poisonous plants". This, however, is wrong, since the dangers from plants to humans are not limited to poisoning when they are eaten, inhaled by the smell of their flowers, or damage to the skin. The range of dangers that plants pose to humans is much wider.
Ironically, the most dangerous plant in Russia is not the most poisonous at all. This is hogweed, touching which leads to severe extensive burns of the skin.
This is especially true for a person who finds himself alone with wildlife and forced to survive here. Firstly, he may encounter such plants and their dangers that he would not encounter with a simple trip to nature. Secondly, the organism of a surviving person is often weakened by hunger, thirst, trauma, long transitions, low or high temperature air and other factors. Thirdly, in various conditions Plants that are completely harmless in other situations can be dangerous. For example, fresh or dry grass on flat surface safe, but on a steep slope, you can slip, fall and roll down to the edge of the cliff. You need to be aware of all such dangers in order to be able to avoid them in extreme situations.
What can be dangerous plants for humans in the wild?
The dangers that wild plants can pose to humans include:
- Poisoning. Most often, they occur when a person tries to eat unfamiliar berries, fruits and tubers of plants, or when they try to treat diseases with them, without having sufficient knowledge for this. These poisonings vary greatly in severity and duration. negative consequences. In the most serious cases, death is possible.
- Burns. They occur when the skin, mucous membranes and eyes of a person come into contact with certain plants, such as nettle and Sosnowsky's hogweed. Such burns can be very painful and, as a result of scratching the skin or tearing the resulting blisters, lead to further infection of the wound, which, under conditions of survival, can end in failure.
- Damage and injury. Most often, these include skin punctures with thorns of various plants (rose hips, barberry, honey locust), damage to the eyes by branches when moving at night or in a group through a dense forest without keeping a distance, as well as dislocations and fractures associated with movement along slippery tree roots and deadwood.
- Allergy. Often occurs with the use of products plant origin and inhalation of plant pollen. Allergy sufferers can experience both mild discomfort (skin irritation, sneezing) and severe, life-threatening consequences of exposure to an allergen (anaphylactic shock).
- Deterioration of well-being from the smell of the plant. Some dangerous plants with a strong odor (white lilies, wild rosemary) can cause headaches, nausea, and other manifestations of malaise. Most often, everything is limited to this, however, for a person who is in emergency even such an indisposition, together with other factors, can be life-threatening.
Fields of blooming yucca in Georgia, on the border of the Vashlovani Reserve. Inspectors here work with shortened shifts, since they cannot stay near such a field for more than a week.
There are also dangers indirectly associated with plants. These include:
- The collapse of branches or entire trees on people or shelter. A fallen branch or tree can injure a person, and in some cases, take his life.
- The fire associated with the ignition of dry vegetation is very dangerous not only for trees, but also for forest animals and humans. The rate of spread of fire can be so high that it is impossible to get away from it without transport.
- The inability to get out of the "green labyrinth" and navigate due to the lack of landmarks. Undergrowth and thorny bushes of various plants can create a kind of labyrinth in the forest, from which it will not be easy for a traveler to get out. The result is a loss of time, effort and provisions (mainly water, the reserves of which are of a strategic nature in the wilderness).
- Drowning due to tree branches located under water. In this case, a fallen tree may be a kind of sieve that allows water to pass through, but retains large objects carried by the river. Once on such a “sieve”, a person may not be able to get out from under the water, which will lead to drowning.
- Electrical shock from standing under a tall tree during a thunderstorm. Lightning hitting a tree can kill a person or a group of people under it.
- Hypothermia in winter, if a large mass of snow falls from the branches of a tree onto a fire and extinguishes it. This is possible when kindling a fire in winter forest under a spruce, on the branches of which lies snow. The inability to re-light the fire can lead to hypothermia and death.
- A sudden meeting and attack of wild animals located in thickets of plants and therefore not noticed in advance. Such animals include both stinging and blood-sucking arthropods (ticks, wasps) and large mammals. For example, in the taiga, in dense thickets of spruce or willow, you can accidentally come very close to a feeding bear, including a she-bear with cubs. And in the middle and southern strip in the thickets of reeds, you can stumble upon a resting herd of wild boars, in which a wild boar can attack, protecting piglets.
Such encounters in the forest are almost always unexpected, and the behavior of the animal is difficult to predict.
Not all the dangers associated with plants are listed here. However, this list gives an understanding that these dangers are numerous and varied, and not at all harmless, as it might seem at first glance.
The most relevant and significant dangers from plants need to be considered in more detail.
Dangerous poisonous plants
Most often, speaking about the toxicity of a plant, they mean that it is dangerous when consumed with food.
Poisonous plants differ in their danger to humans. If you can fill your stomach with plants alone and everything will end in worst case nausea and diarrhea, in the case of others, even a small dose can be fatal.
The most dangerous poisonous plants of the countries of the former CIS include:
The whole plant, but especially hellebore roots, are very poisonous.
- Buttercup is poisonous;
- Hemlock spotted;
- Veh is poisonous;
- Henbane black;
- Belladonna;
- Aconite;
- Hellebore, growing in the southern regions, including Krasnodar Territory, in the south of Ukraine, in the Crimea, in Southern Europe;
- Different types of dope.
All of these plants can cause coma and even death. Some of them, for example, spotted hemlock and Indian dope, are found in large numbers in cities and villages, on roadsides and flower beds.
The danger of dope and henbane black lies not only in the deterioration of health, but also in the occurrence of hallucinations, which in turn can lead to injury in uncontrolled behavior.
Many ornamental plants grown in flower beds and on the windowsill are also dangerous to humans. Among them, the most common are ficus, dieffenbachia, lilies, spurge, monstera, oleander and others. Some of them are dangerous not only when they enter the gastrointestinal tract, but also when human skin comes into contact with their juice. In the latter case, itching, dermatitis and burns may occur.
In some plants, not all parts are poisonous. So, for example, locust locust itself is poisonous, but robinia flowers are edible and tasty.
On a note
Robinia pseudoacacia is often called white locust, which is not true from a botanical point of view.
Another example is the well-known potato. Its tubers are edible and traditionally used as food, but the tops and fruits are poisonous.
Green potato tubers can also be dangerous to humans. They also contain solanine. For the same reason, the immature fruits of other nightshades - tomatoes and eggplants - are also poisonous.
Unripe barberry berries can also cause poisoning.
These examples show a blurry and not always distinguishable line between edible and poisonous plants.
The poison of some plants can be removed by soaking and heat treatment. So, the roots of the capsule are bitter and poisonous in themselves, but soaking for several days, followed by baking, makes them edible, which our ancestors used in times of famine.
It is worth noting that poisonous plants are often (but by no means always) very bitter and unpleasant in taste, so it is almost impossible to get poisoned by them while in their right mind. Nevertheless, Les Stroud, a Canadian survival expert, in one of the episodes of his video project "Science of Survival" was poisoned by the bitter roots of the egg-pod, because he did not know about their toxicity and tried to make up for the lack of calories from carbohydrates from the roots of this plant.
The roots of the capsule are juicy and a hungry person can willingly try to eat them.
Not only poisonous, but also some edible plants can cause health problems if consumed in excess. For example, eating large amounts of bitter almonds can lead to hydrocyanic acid poisoning.
Other edible plants may be contraindicated for people who already have health problems. So, the use of stinging nettle, which was very fond of putting in first courses in the past, is not recommended for people prone to thrombosis. The fact is that vitamin K, contained in large quantities in this plant, will lead to even greater blood clotting.
It should also be understood that food that is safe for some animals may be poisonous for others, and in particular for humans, and vice versa. For example, chocolate that is safe for humans can kill a dog because of the theobromine content in it, and red fly agaric - a favorite food of squirrels, bears and some ungulates - is dangerous for humans.
Therefore, you should not focus on the food preferences of other animals and try to eat what they eat.
They are not plants, but worthy of mention are the microscopic algae Karenia brevis, which color sea water into red. These algae produce brevetoxin, which can kill a person. The problem is that during the flowering of this algae, marine life - fish and shellfish - accumulate this toxin and become poisonous themselves. Further eating of these animals can lead a person to death.
Tides of "red water" on the coast of Mexico
This toxin is so poisonous that a person can get health problems just from breathing in the wind blowing from the sea c large quantity such algae in the water.
Dangerous plants that can cause burns
Some dangerous plants can cause burns, sometimes very serious, on contact with the skin. So, in nettle leaves and stems there are small silicon needles with formic acid. Upon contact of the skin with this plant, the needles break off, remaining in the skin, and contribute to the penetration of acid under the skin. Blisters form at the point of contact, and the person himself experiences a burning sensation in this place.
However, Sosnowsky's cow parsnip is most famous for its burns. Its juice, which has fallen on human skin, does not in itself damage it, but increases sensitivity to sunlight. Thus, after contact with hogweed, even a short exposure to the sun causes severe burns. In this case, huge blisters appear on the body, and burn scars in the form dark spots may persist for several years.
A burn on the body of a worker who fell with his naked body into a thicket of hogweed.
Plants capable of causing injury, cuts and scrapes
Trees, bushes, and even short grass can cause a variety of injuries.
So, wet roots of trees, along which a man is walking, often lead to falls and associated dislocations, abrasions and even fractures. Fractures and dislocations can render a person temporarily incapacitated, lead to shock or fatal blood loss (in open fractures), and abrasions can lead to blood poisoning.
The thorns of many shrubs can not only slow down a person's movement, rendering clothing and equipment unusable, but also damage the skin, leaving splinters and deep wounds in it. Such injuries are dangerous primarily by blood poisoning.
Grass can reduce the grip of the soles of shoes with the ground. On a grassy steep slope, you can easily slip and, for example, fall into a ravine.
In the south of Europe, in the same Ukraine, a small annual grass grows called Tribulus terrestris. Its inconspicuous fruits are capable of piercing with their thorns not only the foot of a person left without shoes, but even bicycle tires with the ensuing troubles.
Tribulus shoots with seeds.
Allergies to various plants and their danger
Plants can also pose a number of other dangers to humans. For example, in the summer, one often hears complaints from people who are allergic to pollen and down of plants. Allergy sufferers often suffer from ragweed and poplar.
It is interesting
Poplar - dioecious plant, that is, it has male and female copies. Poplar fluff is given exclusively by female specimens of this plant.
With a strong allergy during the flowering of poplar, a person can completely lose his ability to work.
Allergies can also occur when eating certain plants. Often this effect is possessed by plants with red fruits. That is why allergy sufferers are advised to exclude tomatoes and red apples from the diet.
The danger of allergies to a person in an emergency should not be underestimated. Its negative effects can either be combined with other factors or enhance them, worsening the situation of the victim. For example, poor health will reduce the efficiency of the work performed and lead to an increase in the number of errors, including critical ones in an extreme situation.
In some cases, an extreme degree of allergy is possible - anaphylactic shock, requiring urgent medical intervention, without which a person can die in a matter of minutes. Such a reaction rarely occurs when inhaling allergenic pollen, but may be a response to contact with the plant, such as when moving through bushes or sleeping on the grass.
Plants that smell dangerous
Other plants such as wild rosemary and White Lily, can cause headaches with their smell and worsen the well-being of even healthy people. This is all the more critical for an injured or weakened person.
On one of the hikes in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, we picked marsh wild rosemary in the forest, put it in backpacks and left it in a tent. Already on the first night, one of the three participants in the campaign complained of a headache caused by the strong smell of this plant.
Ledum flowers that release strong-smelling compounds into the air.
Emergency trees and their danger
Emergency trees are especially dangerous, so an experienced hiker, familiar with the rules of safety and bivouac, never camps under the dry branches of large trees.
The tree that fell right on sleeping place in a tent. Luckily, no one was hurt - during the fall, people were on the street.
The fact is that a strong wind or rain can lead to the breaking off of branches or the collapse of the tree itself. This, in turn, is fraught with serious injuries, including those incompatible with life. Among other things, the fall of a tree or its parts on a tent can deprive a person of shelter. A good shelter is one of the first things in survival, as it protects from rain, wind and arthropods (mosquitoes, midges, ticks, spiders).
Fire hazard of dry grass, bark, needles and foliage
The presence of dry trees, grass and shrubs can cause a fire. To do this, it is not necessary to burn fires, just throw a smoldering cigarette butt or a match, do not put out the fire.
Even a bottle of water left in the sun can ignite dry grass. The concave walls of a bottle filled with water are a kind of lens that concentrates the sun's rays at one point. The temperature at this point may be sufficient to ignite the tinder, followed by grass.
Sometimes a fire can be caused by lightning striking a dry tree.
In the event of a fire, there is a risk of suffocation from the smoke or being burned alive in the flames. Moreover, the rate of spread of fire at strong wind can reach 70 km / h, which is about 2 times the speed of the fastest runner in the world.
Risk of getting lost in dense thickets
A dense forest, and especially the undergrowth characteristic of mixed forests, can become an impenetrable wall for a person trying to get out to people. In addition, the forest tall trees can make it difficult to see landmarks to determine your location.
Hunting trail in the forest in Borneo. The plants themselves are not dangerous here, but a large number of they deprive a person of the ability to navigate.
A lost person can lose a lot of time and energy, but never reach civilization. The further fate of the victim depends on many factors - air temperature, humidity, precipitation, availability of sources drinking water, preparedness for similar situations, health status and so on. This is especially dangerous in tall forests or extensive thickets of reeds.
Tree trunks in the riverbed
Trees located in the bed of a fast-flowing river can pose a serious danger to a person who has fallen into the water.
Firstly, such trees form natural obstacles, bending around which, the current creates whirlpools that are life-threatening.
Secondly, having fallen under the trunk of a tree lying in the river with the current, a person does not always have a chance to get out: the branches will not allow the tree to swim under water, and the flow of the river will not come up.
Thirdly, a rope attached to a tourist trying to pull a crossing over the river can catch on a tree lying on the water. In this case, during the demolition of the tourist by the current, the stretched rope, together with the pressure of the water, can pull the person under the water.
And, finally, when swimming, you can simply run into a branch of a tree lying under water.
Danger of being struck by lightning under tall trees
On cloudy days, a person sheltering from the rain under a large tree may be electrocuted.
The fact is that lightning, which is an electric discharge with a voltage of tens, and sometimes hundreds of millions of volts, more often strikes tall objects, which include big trees. Being next to such a tree, a person also receives, if not all, but still sufficient discharge to cause harm to health. The situation is aggravated by the rain-soaked tree trunk and soil, since they are good conductors of electric current.
Highly rare photo- lightning strikes directly into the tree.
On a note
Interestingly, according to statistics, four out of five people who were struck by lightning survive.
Tree branches with snow posing a threat to the fire
In a winter snowy forest, a person who does not have the skills of tourism and survival can try to light a fire under a spruce spruce tree, which creates a false feeling of comfort.
The warm air rising from the fire melts the snow lying on the spruce branches hanging over the hearth. Such snow can fall into the fire at any moment, extinguishing it, wetting the firewood and leaving a person without the opportunity to warm himself. Without a fire, a warm sleeping bag or snow shelter, a person in a winter forest can die in a few hours.
Most of the dangers mentioned in the article may seem far-fetched to the reader, but in conditions of survival, when the human body is weakened by stress, malnutrition, lack of sleep, bivouac work or a long journey, they, together with other factors, can become fatal.
What dangerous plants grow in our country and what consequences does a meeting with them promise?
The other day, the Russian Ministry of Health published an information that lists the main dangers of summer outdoor recreation: snakes, ticks, spiders, scorpions, poisonous and stinging insects. The document also contains a list of poisonous plants that are found on the territory of the Russian Federation. We decided to tell you more about the threats posed by the domestic flora. These flowers and plants are only beautiful in appearance, inside they harbor deadly poisons that can kill even an adult, not to mention children.
Aconite, or wrestler
Action: eating leaves and roots containing a stupefying poisonous substance of a burning, pungent taste.
Effects: poisoning, sometimes fatal.
Symptoms: first, burning pains in the mouth and tongue, then increased sweat and urine, accelerated pulse, dilated pupils, darkening of the eyes, headache. Next - vomiting, colic, convulsions, trembling of all members, shortness of breath. If help is not provided - delirium, fainting, convulsions, death.
Fact: aconite roots in India served as the basis for the manufacture of a deadly poison for arrows.
Hellebore Lobel
Action: eating any part of the plant.
Effects: poisoning up to death.
Symptoms: discomfort in the nasopharynx and esophagus, cough, indomitable vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, weakening of the heart, increased sweating and salivation. With severe poisoning - clinical convulsions, collapse, and then death.
Fact: a decoction is made from the plant to remove lice.
Ledum marsh
Action: inhalation essential oils or the use of honey and rosemary-based medicines.
Effects: effect on the central nervous system.
Symptoms: dry mouth, numbness of the tongue, speech disturbance, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, general weakness, impaired coordination of movements, clouding of consciousness, increased or decreased pulse, convulsions, agitation, CNS paralysis is possible after 30-120 minutes.
Fact: wild rosemary is used in folk medicine for bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, bronchial asthma, cough, whooping cough, etc.
Henbane black
Action: eating any part of the plant, most often poisoning occurs with seeds similar to poppy seeds.
Effects: leads to mental disorder.
Symptoms: psychomotor agitation, hallucinations, dry mouth, skin redness, pupil dilation and lack of reaction to light, increased sweating, palpitations, coma. Symptoms appear quickly: from 10 minutes to 15 hours.
Fact: Henbane was part of the poison that poisoned Shakespeare's characters - Romeo and Hamlet's father.
Belladonna, or belladonna
Action:
Effects: possible death from paralysis of the respiratory center and vascular insufficiency.
Symptoms: signs of mild poisoning - dryness and burning in the mouth and throat, difficulty swallowing and speaking, rapid heartbeat, redness of the skin. The voice becomes hoarse, near vision is disturbed, photophobia, “flies” before the eyes, agitation, sometimes delirium and hallucinations occur. In severe poisoning - a complete loss of orientation, a sharp motor and mental excitement, sometimes convulsions, fever, shortness of breath, decreased pressure and pulse. Swelling of the face, forearms, legs.
Fact: Belladonna means "beautiful woman" in Italian. In the old days, Italian women instilled the juice of the plant into their eyes, which made the pupils dilate and become shiny. In Russia, the name "Bellasavka" was fixed. The berries of the plant were rubbed on the cheeks to create a blush. Another name "rabies" is due to the fact that atropine, which is part of it, can cause strong excitement, reaching rabies.
Datura common (stinky)
Action: sniff, and even more so, eat any parts, seeds are especially dangerous.
Effects: bewildering and maddening.
Symptoms: motor excitation, sharp dilation of the pupils, redness of the face and neck, hoarseness, thirst, headache. Subsequently, speech impairment, coma, hallucinations, paralysis.
Fact: Based on the information of the Aztecs, the Spanish missionary Bernardino de Sahagun wrote: “He who eats it no longer wants to eat right up to his death. But if you eat a little, then the heart will forever be in disorder, it will go crazy, it will take possession forever, there will never be a reasonable person. Also, you can’t smell it, because it hurts people’s hearts, makes people refuse to eat, drives people crazy, makes people refuse to eat.”
Hemlock
Action: ingestion of any part of the plant.
Effects: poisoning causes suffocation and may lead to respiratory arrest.
Symptoms: nausea, vomiting, slowing down of movements and speech, muscle weakness, pallor of the skin, later paralysis, which begins in the lower extremities, is accompanied by a loss of skin sensitivity and continues with paralysis of the respiratory muscles.
Fact: recent studies have shown that it was this plant that served to kill Socrates. In ancient Greece, this poison was used to poison criminals sentenced to death.
black elderberry
Action: ingestion of seeds and other parts of the plant.
Effects: under the influence of cyanides, tissue hypoxia occurs - oxygen starvation cells, which threatens with fatigue, loss of efficiency and a general deterioration in the state of the body.
Symptoms: vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, weakness, tachycardia, shortness of breath, cyanosis. In severe cases, hypotension, respiratory failure, coma.
Fact: In England, elderflowers are used to make the traditional drink Elderflower Cordial. Sometimes jam, jelly and jam are made from elderberry berries.
Milestone poisonous
Action: use of any part of the plant.
Effects: effects on the central nervous system, death.
Symptoms: first, a sweet taste appears in the mouth, changing to bitter, salivation, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle hypertonicity, convulsions, psychomotor agitation occur. In severe cases, convulsive seizures develop, foam from the mouth appears, paralysis.
Fact: 100-200g of rhizome is enough to kill a cow, and 50-100g will kill a sheep, not to mention a human. It was previously believed that Socrates died from this poison, but the descriptions he left are more suitable for the symptoms of hemlock poisoning.
Daphne
Action: eating berries, chewing the bark, skin contact with wet bark or getting plant sap on it, inhaling bark dust, getting sap in the eyes.
Effects: severe poisoning, rarely fatal.
Symptoms: burns of the skin, respiratory mucosa (by inhalation of dry bark dust) and gastrointestinal tract of varying severity.
Fact: the use of plants for medicinal purposes is prohibited. In the XIII century, peasant girls rubbed their cheeks with berries, from which they puffed up and blushed.
May lily of the valley
Action: eating lily of the valley berries, drinking water in which lilies of the valley stood. All parts of the plant are poisonous.
Effects: in severe cases, rhythm and heart rate are disturbed, pressure may decrease and the heart stops.
Symptoms: headache, tinnitus, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, pupillary constriction, low blood pressure, arrhythmic pulse, convulsions are possible.
Fact: lilies of the valley are deadly poisonous to cats and dogs, which has been proven by experiments. At the same time, in nature, some animals eat lily of the valley berries without harm to themselves - for example, the fox and other canines.