We heed the advice “Eat your veggies,” and chomp on a carrot or celery, maybe on some parsley. We use caraway, anise, and coriander, cumin, dill, and fennel to enhance flavors. By the quantities of their consumption and the statements by food scientists, we assume eating from the family Apiaceae is a healthful practice at its best and a seemingly neutral health practice at its least. We also munch on members of the plant family Asteraceae that includes artichokes, lettuce, and endive.
Generally, many of Apiaceae and Asteraceae species are harmless, possibly even beneficial to human well being. However, not all members of those two plant families are healthful foods. Apiaceaens also include hemlock, the poison of choice for Socrates. And the Asteraceaens include toxic members. Wild feverfew, or congress grass (Parthenium hysterophorus) is known as the “scourge of India,” a designation derived from a 1956 outbreak of dermatitis caused by a mixing of its seeds in a humanitarian shipment of grain.* Thousands of people were stricken and some died.
So, a plant family can be generally harmless or helpful, but there’s always that exception. In this regard such plant groups are analogs of many human families. Someone seems toxic. But there’s always some hope, and a paradoxical model of a toxic plant with potential benefits belongs to the family Apocynaceae, specifically Nerium oleander.
Nerium oleander, the “desert rose,” can be deadly, but there’s another side to the toxic flower. Medical researchers have experimented with the plant as a cancer cure. Even ancient Mediterranean cultures recognized its potential as a remedy. There might be a lesson in this: The proverbial “black sheep” or “bad egg” in a family can be ostensibly toxic, but have underlying curative power. We give toxic plants a chance to prove their benefits. Why not give some seemingly toxic human family members a chance to mimic oleander’s dual character? A little experimentation—granted, under safe guidelines—might reveal a surprising beneficial property lying within a toxic flower.
* Donald G. Crosby, The Poisoned Weed, 2004, Ocford University Press, p. 7. Online at: https://books.google.com/books?id=W4D1H1PEL-AC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=Asteraceae+poisons&source=bl&ots=I93AMhMh19&sig=ivEpKnRxk3ExJnjrgRVrX0l-Lz4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM05rF6LzOAhXM2SYKHbZWDuMQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=Asteraceae%20poisons&f=false
Generally, many of Apiaceae and Asteraceae species are harmless, possibly even beneficial to human well being. However, not all members of those two plant families are healthful foods. Apiaceaens also include hemlock, the poison of choice for Socrates. And the Asteraceaens include toxic members. Wild feverfew, or congress grass (Parthenium hysterophorus) is known as the “scourge of India,” a designation derived from a 1956 outbreak of dermatitis caused by a mixing of its seeds in a humanitarian shipment of grain.* Thousands of people were stricken and some died.
So, a plant family can be generally harmless or helpful, but there’s always that exception. In this regard such plant groups are analogs of many human families. Someone seems toxic. But there’s always some hope, and a paradoxical model of a toxic plant with potential benefits belongs to the family Apocynaceae, specifically Nerium oleander.
Nerium oleander, the “desert rose,” can be deadly, but there’s another side to the toxic flower. Medical researchers have experimented with the plant as a cancer cure. Even ancient Mediterranean cultures recognized its potential as a remedy. There might be a lesson in this: The proverbial “black sheep” or “bad egg” in a family can be ostensibly toxic, but have underlying curative power. We give toxic plants a chance to prove their benefits. Why not give some seemingly toxic human family members a chance to mimic oleander’s dual character? A little experimentation—granted, under safe guidelines—might reveal a surprising beneficial property lying within a toxic flower.
* Donald G. Crosby, The Poisoned Weed, 2004, Ocford University Press, p. 7. Online at: https://books.google.com/books?id=W4D1H1PEL-AC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=Asteraceae+poisons&source=bl&ots=I93AMhMh19&sig=ivEpKnRxk3ExJnjrgRVrX0l-Lz4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM05rF6LzOAhXM2SYKHbZWDuMQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=Asteraceae%20poisons&f=false
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