Hemlock or parsley? Know how your garden grows

By CATHERINE MASTERS

The ancient Greeks knew a bit about deadly plants.

When Socrates, the fifth century BC philosopher, was condemned to death for corrupting youth (he talked to them about radical concepts like atheism) he was ordered to drink a cup of poison.

In the cup was hemlock, a poisonous herb that looks quite a lot like the purifying parsley, which is why it is known as "fool's parsley" and should never be put on the dinner plate.

So, when many, many centuries later a young boy ate hemlock in the South Island it was lucky his father was Bill Sykes, an expert on poisonous plants who knew exactly what to do - get the boy to hospital.

"I thought he knew the difference between hemlock and parsley, which he was very fond of ... I told him he'd have to have his stomach pumped out, and he did too. You could hear his yells all around the hospital.

"Hemlock is a poisonous plant, no doubt about it, very poisonous."

Mr Sykes is a research associate for Landcare Research and, despite the potentially fatal ingestion of hemlock by his own son, he says parents do not need to be overly worried about poisonous plants in New Zealand.

But they should be aware of some of the common ones and they should know what to do if they suspect their child has eaten a poisonous plant.

Plants can poison when people brush against them, or by ingestion, absorption or inhalation.

Some people may become seriously ill by one of these methods, others only mildly affected. Fatalities are rare.

Mr Sykes says symptoms vary for children depending on the poison.

"The commonest symptom would be violent stomach pains. If you look at some of the books on poisoning you will see horror stories on what can happen by way of severe damage to internal organs.

"That's very, very uncommon - it would only be by eating quite a bit of it."

Mr Sykes gets a rash if he accidentally touches the wax tree.

"I mustn't touch that, I get a rash and tremendous irritation and on occasions I've heard of people who have been hospitalised because of all the blistering and everything around their body."

Children are attracted to similar plants as birds - the colourful parts, the berries, fruits and flowers.

"The main poisoning cases are from children eating parts which appeal to them in some way ...

"Many people think that because a plant can be eaten by birds it's okay to be eaten by humans but that is not necessarily so." "We are not like birds. We are most closely related to monkeys and I think almost anything a monkey could eat we could eat, but of course we don't have too many monkeys roaming around."

If you suspect somebody has been poisoned contact a doctor or hospital. You can also call the National Poisons Information Centre on (03) 474-7000 day and night.