''Cicuta maculata'' is a highly poisonous species of flowering plant in the
carrot family known by several common names, including spotted water hemlock, spotted parsley, spotted cowbane, and the suicide root by the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
. It is native to nearly all of North America, from northern Canada to southern Mexico.
Description
''Cicuta maculata'' is a
rhizomatous
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ho ...
perennial herb producing a hollow erect stem that can reach a height of . The long
leaves are made up of several lance-shaped, pointed, serrated leaflets. Each shiny green leaflet is long and the entire leaf may be up to long. The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
of white flowers is similar in appearance to other species in the carrot family. It is a compound
umbel
In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...
with many clusters of flowers. The dry tan-brown fruit is a few millimeters long.
The plant prefers wet habitats, such as wet meadows, roadside ditches, pond margins, open marshes, and freshwater swamps.
Flowering is from May to September.
The poisonous plant is occasionally mistaken for
parsnip
The parsnip ('' Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin an ...
s, due to its clusters of white
tuber
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...
ous roots.
Toxicity
The confusion with parsnips can be fatal as ''C. maculata'' is extremely poisonous. It is considered to be North America's most toxic plant.
Cicuta is fatal when swallowed, causing violent and painful
convulsions. Though a number of people have died from water hemlock poisoning over the centuries,
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
have long been the worst affected (hence the name "cowbane"), with ingestion of the plant causing death in as little as 15 minutes.
The chief poison is
cicutoxin, an unsaturated aliphatic alcohol that is most concentrated in the roots. Upon human consumption,
nausea
Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
,
vomiting
Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteri ...
, and tremors occur within 30–60 minutes, followed by severe
cramp
A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction or overshortening associated with electrical activity; while generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the aff ...
s, projectile vomiting, and convulsions. Occasional long-term effects include
retrograde amnesia
In neurology, retrograde amnesia (RA) is a loss of memory-access to events that occurred or information that was learned in the past. It is caused by an injury or the onset of a disease. It tends to negatively affect episodic, autobiographical, ...
.
Ingestion of water hemlock in any quantity can result in death or permanent damage to the
central nervous system
The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...
.
See also
*''
Conium maculatum''
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery*
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5119480
Apioideae
Flora of North America
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Poisonous plants