United States Edition
If you are hiking into the middle of no where not everything dangerous is going to be something similar to a bear or a rattle snake. The more stationary organisms can do you some harm too. If you are a weirdo like me and try take picture of plants its especially important to know what plants to avoid.
Other than the obvious spiny or thorny individuals its really the toxic and skin irritating plants that you need to watch out for. Follow the one golden rule for plants. Never eat any plant while hiking. This simple rule should serve you well and help keep safe. I’ve chosen to split up the plants you should avoid into two categories “Toxic” and “Irritating”. Toxic plants are those that can be deadly if consumed. “Irritating” plants contain harmful skin irritating substances.
Toxic
1.) Nightshade
This is a very toxic plant that I would not recommend handling, you might notice a trend through out this post. The hand touching these plants is mine. When I took these images I didn’t know what I was interacting with. Do not consume any part of this plant, it would be extremely bad for your health. People who have eaten the berries have caused stomach lesions, nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression and the worst symptom death.
2.) Hemlock
“Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata)” by Mary Keim is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The two species above are hemlock and are highly toxic and deadly if ingested. The two species shown below are safe, and some people even seek out the plant on the bottom left to eat. The wild carrot is edible, but it looks remarkably similar to highly deadly plants. Again reinforcing my personal rule that you should never eat a plant that you find while on a hike even if you think it is edible. In this case a mistake can be deadly.
“Cow Parsnip – Heracleum maximum” by tlhowes2012 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
With a trained eye and a lot of advice from knowledgeable people you may be able to identify which plants are safe to consume, but you will not get that advice here. This simply because I am not knowledgeable enough and I have my doubts that plants are reliable enough to stake my personal safety on it. My approach is simply do not take the risk. Biology is messy even if you remember correctly it takes one rogue hemlock that looks too similar to a wild carrot. Take a look at the map of these species noticing how they all overlap.
3.) Wolfs Bane
Wolfsbane grows in colder climates and is extremely toxic. Toxic enough that it was historically used to poison large wolves. So please do not consume any part of this plant. Also I would not recommend handling this plant, but I didn’t know what it was at the time. See i told you there would be trend.
Irritating
4.) Poison Oak and allies
Genus Toxicodendron
“Poison Sumac – Hampton Ponds – Westfield MA” by Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Poison Ivy plant” by firepile is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
These species produce an irritating oil (urishiol) that can irritate the skin and cause serious rash or blistering. This is a real risk, especially when walking through thick vegetation. One way you can protect yourself is by wearing pants or longer sleeves to help prevent the oils from coming into contact with your skin.
What do I do? As soon as possible wash the affected area with cool water and soap or wash with rubbing alcohol.
The best approach is to arm yourself with the knowledge of what to avoid and prevent a irritating and rashy situation. The map below shows the distribution of five poison oak species that you need to watch out for.
5.) Hogweed
Heracleum mantegazzianum is a species that again looks similar to the wild carrot. Although much larger to the untrained eye can look similar to the edible species. This plant produces a photosensitive sap that can blister your skin when exposed to the sunlight.
What do I do? If you come into contact with the sap of this plant, keep the area shaded from the sun to avoid blistering. As soon as possible wash the affected area with cool water and soap.
“Giant Hog Weed Flower” by Steve Marlow is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Please see the fantastic infographic that lays out the fascinating chemistry of this DO NOT TOUCH plant. Clicking the link below the picture will take you to the wonderful website of the creator.
6.) Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica also known as stinging nettle is not deadly, but very unpleasant. Commonly thought to be painful because of the needle like trichomes covering the plant, it is actually much more interesting than that. Stinging Nettle uses these needle like structures to deliver a chemical attack sort of like a venom that cause pain and irritation at the site on contact.
Knowing how to recognize this plant is The plant can be identified by these long hair-like trichomes, spear shaped leaves with serrate margins and concentrated strands of small green flowers.
What do I do? As soon as possible wash the affected area with cool water and soap or wash with rubbing alcohol.
“Common Nettle (Urtica dioica)” by Peter O’Connor aka anemoneprojectors is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
