Walkers are being urged to avoid eating a poisonous plant that could be confused with parsnips – with deadly results.
Hemlock waterdropwort is also known as dead man’s fingers. It has toxic leaves that look a lot like parsley.
Meanwhile, the even more toxic roots of the plant – which were once picked and cooked in a curry by students in a catastrophic case of mistaken identity – look and smell just like parsnips.
Oenanthetoxin is a neurotoxin that causes spasmodic convulsions and then sudden death in all parts of the plant.
Hemlock water dropwort is native to the British Isles and grows near water, but stormy weather has recently uprooted the plant onto beaches in Cumbria.
Experts are concerned that hemlock water dropswort might be taken home by ‘foragers’ or other unsuspecting members.
Hemlock water dropwort roots are also known as “dead man’s fingers” and are widely considered to be the most toxic plant for both humans as well as animals.
Millom Coastguard Rescue Team posted on Facebook: “Even a tiny amount can prove fatal for humans by attacking the nervous systems. It can also cause death in animals.
So far there have been confirmed sightings of hemlock water dropwort at the towns of St Bees and Millom, Cumbria, according to Millom Coastguard Rescue Team.
“Please be aware that there have been reports of a highly poisonous species being washed up along local beaches,” it stated in a Facebook warning.
“Even a small amount can cause death in humans by attacking their nervous system. It can also cause death in animals.
“We advise people to be extra cautious when visiting the beach, especially with children or animals.
Consuming the herb can cause nausea, vomiting and seizures. It can also cause visual hallucinations and lethargy.
Rather confusingly, hemlock water dropwort is part of the Umbellifer family of plants, which also includes species of celery, parsley, parsnip and carrots.
The flowers of hemlock waterdropwort are very similar to parsley’s, and have attractive white flowers.
While the most toxic part is the tuberous root – the part that looks like a parsnip – all parts of the plant are poisonous and a small piece can be fatal if eaten.
The green part is a perennial and can grow to over a metre in shallow water such as streams, ditches or rivers.
The Umbellifer family contains poisonous members such as poison hemlock (Conium macroulatum), poison cowbane, and hemlock water dropwort.
According to Wild Food UK, hemlock water droplet is even more poisonous than the deathcap mushroom, which contains enough toxin to kill an adult.
‘This puts that mushroom in the shade basically when it comes to poison,’ said Marlow Renton, foraging instructor at Wild Food UK.
There have been confirmed sightings of hemlock water dropwort at the towns of St Bees and Millom, Cumbria, according to Millom Coastguard Rescue Team
Images show the similarities between the flowers of poisonous hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata, left) and the flowers of parsley (Petroselinum crispum, right)
The rare event of poisoning by hemlock water droplets is not common. Animals are the most commonly affected, such as dogs out on walks.
However, the public should not pick or eat wild plants.
Geoff Dann, a foraging writer, told the Guardian that hemlock water droplet is predominantly known for killing livestock.
He explained that the root system is usually disturbed by earthworks or the edge of a river, and the roots are exposed to livestock.
“There have been cases where people have dug it up and thought it was a plant they could eat, like wild celery or water parsnip, but this is extremely rare.
They are big, fat tubers. But who walks along the beach and picks up random wild plants that have washed up on the shore and eats them? It seems odd.
Pictured is the root of the plant, which looks a lot like a parsnip. It was found on Porthkidney beach, Cornwall in 2018.
Emergency Medicine Journal published a 2002 report that eight students from Argyll, Scotland ate a curry with hemlock waterdropwort after mistaking the roots as parsnips.
They only ate a small amount of root and felt it was too bitter for them. Four were admitted to hospital.
The root was prepared by boiling, which caused less severe toxic effects and worse symptoms than would have been expected.
‘It is possible that with increasing interest in “natural” foods accidental poisoning of this nature may become more frequent,’ the authors reported.
“These cases show the potential dangers of this, however, they also highlight the fact that even small communities can have expertise which, if accessed properly, can be invaluable.