Tag Archives: toxic

Foxglove, Digitalis pupurea

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Beautiful but Deadly

An open field, scattered with tall spikes of red-purple, tubular flowers gently waving in the warm breeze. Hummingbirds flit stem to stem gathering nectar.

Foxglove (royalty free, Unsplash)

Downside? It can kill you.

What do you know about this beautiful and common, plant? Test your knowledge in this 10 question true or false quiz. Answers at the end.

True or False?

  1. Foxglove is native to western and southwestern Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa.  
  2. Foxglove flowers can be yellow.   
  3. A common name for this plant was ‘witch’s glove.’ 
  4. It takes two years to get a bloom.  
  5. Plants thrive on recently disturbed acidic soils.     
  6. All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans.   
  7. Inhaling the pollen can affect some people. 
  8. Wear gloves when collecting, handling fresh and dried materials. 
  9. Chemicals from Foxgloves are used for making heart medicine.   
  10. The chemicals from Foxgloves were thought to control seizures.

The Answers

If you said true to all of these statements, you were right!  Want to know more? Here are the backstories:

  1. Foxgloves are very common but not native to our area. They are native to parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
  2. Flowers can be purple, pink, fuchsia, white, and yellow. Breeders are working on new colors such as peach. Flowers can have various marks and spotting. Bloom color will change as flowers age.
  3. There were several common names for this plant (not all complementary) including: ‘witch’s glove’, ‘dead man’s bells’, and ‘fox’s glove’.
  4. Foxglove is a biennial plant, meaning it completes a full lifecycle (including reseeding) in two years.  
  5. Plants will routinely colonize disturbed areas, especially if the soil is a bit acid and well drained. Locations can include woodlands, sea-cliffs, mountain slopes, and open fields.
  6. Beautiful but deadly. All parts of this plant, fresh and dried, are poisonous. Even deer and rabbits will leave them alone. There have been cases where deadly foxglove leaves were confused with harmless comfrey leaves.
  7. Pollen can contain a tiny amount of digoxin which is a type of cardiac glycosides.  
  8. As a general rule, wear gloves when collecting, arranging, or cleaning up garden debris. Foxgloves were probably one of the plants that rule was made for as even a tiny bit of sap transferred from glove to shovel handle can be a problem.  
  9. Digoxin, extracted from several varieties of Foxglove is used to create medicines for congestive heart failure and seizures.
  10. Foxglove is no longer used for seizures. It is thought that Vincent van Gogh may have been influenced during his “Yellow Period” by digitalis therapy used to control seizures.  

REFERENCES:
–Better Homes and Gardens (https://www.bhg.com)
–Wikipedia, Foxglove (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis)
—Foxglove Flower Alert, Whats Cooking America (https://whatscookingamerica.net)
–Gardening Know How, Foxglove (https://www.gardeningknowhow.com)

Chanterelles (Cantharellus formosus)

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There’s gold in those hills – that is golden mushrooms

Pacific Golden Chanterelles became the Oregon State mushroom in 1999. And no wonder, Oregon harvests over 500,000 pounds annually!

Chanterelles (Royalty free from Unsplash)

Chanterelles are one of the most popular wild edible mushrooms and tend to command a high price in both restaurants and specialty stores. Their rich, distinctive taste and aroma often puts them into the same gourmet fungi short list with truffles and morels.

Where do Pacific Goldens Grow?

Chanterelles grow in Pacific Northwest conifer forests that include western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and Sitka spruce (and live oaks in California). It forms a mycorrhizal mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with these trees.

Pacific Gold Chanterelle is one of several chanterelle mushrooms. It is sometimes hard to tell one from another. The Pacific has a long, graceful funnel-shaped stem that tapers to the base. The wavy cap has tiny, dark scales on the pinkish orange-yellow surface. The false gills look like forked wrinkles with a pinkish hue. The scales and pinkish colors are sometimes absent in wet conditions. Look for a distinctive fruity apricot aroma.  

Not the Same

Recent DNA work helped identify the differences between ‘Cantharellus cibarius’ (Golden Chanterelle), ‘Cantharellus formosus’ (Pacific Golden Chanterelle), and other related species. At one time all chanterelles in the Pacific Northwest were considered ‘cibarius.’ Turns out they are not. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanterelle.

The cibarius for instance grow in clumps among the moss in coniferous forests. Some grow in grasslands, mountainous birch forests, or beech forests depending on the location and specific species. Cibarius are yellow or golden, funnel-shaped, and meaty. Gill-like ridges run down the stem under the cap and they may smell fruity, woody, or earthy. For more information on these findings see: The Wild Mushroom Expert (https:www.mushroomexpert.com/cantharellus_formosus.html).

Lookalikes

Mushrooms can be difficult to identify and several, like the cibarius and formosus, look very similar. There are other mushrooms that look like these including the false chanterelle which is darker almost orangeish with a dark center that grades out towards light edges. False chanterelle is not dangerous, but could upset your stomach. It also tastes bad.

Jack-o-lantern mushrooms are toxic and sometimes mistaken for chanterelles. The gills of a jack-o-lantern mushroom are much thinner, deeper, and more delicate than the smooth, blunt, and shallow gill-like ridges of a chanterelle.

Cooking

Fresh chanterelles are the best to cook with. They dry well, but can become a bit chewy when reconstituted. Chanterelles can be dried and ground to a flour or frozen for short amounts of time.

Cooking releases the complex flavors of a chanterelle, especially when cooking with wine and butter. There are several fabulous recipes around to experiment with (like in sauces, sautés, soups, etc.). Look for Chanterelles at local farmer’s markets, gourmet stores, and gift stores.

The key to enjoying mushrooms is making sure that you have the right one. Some are poisonous (see chart at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_poisoning). Most poisonous mushrooms will cause vomiting and diarrhea with no long-term damage. Other mushrooms can be deadly and cause damage to kidneys and liver. Do your research, learn how to safely identify your target, and similar mushroom species.

Tree Lupine (Lupinus arboreus)

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Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

What’s that soft yellow bush in the distance? It just might be a Tree Lupine (Lupinus arboreus). The common names are yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK).

This perennial will grow to about 79-inches in full sun. Tree lupins typically live up to seven years and are hardy to 10˚F.

The attractive yellow flowers held on a 12-inch stem is rich in nectar and pollen. The gray-green leaves are palm-shaped and covered with fine, silky hair.

Lupins are attractive to many bees, butterflies, and moths. Tree Lupins host to ten or more butterflies and moths. Some have estimated the number to be upwards of 39 in total. Lupines do not appear to be attractive to birds.

Wolf?

The term lupine is from the Latin for “wolf,” referring to the mistaken belief that these plants deplete soil minerals. The opposite is actually true.

Many species of Lupine will collect nitrogen from the air. This ability gradually enriches surrounding soils and may displace native varieties adapted to more nitrogen-poor conditions.

Invasive Tendencies

Tree lupins are strong growers and can outcompete other grasses, forbs, and native plants. It grows in a number of different soils with good drainage including sand dunes and coastal sage scrub. At one time, this plant was used to stabilize sand dunes and other soils along the Oregon and California coast.

This species can threaten native plants through hybridization. There are approximately 220 species of lupines with many growing in the North American west.

Yellow Lupin creates a lot of seeds every year. These seeds persist in the soil for a very long time and can create a seed bank.

Unsprouted seeds collect and lay dormant in a shallow mat below the shrub. This seed bank will sprout with even minimal disturbance. Disturbances can include manmade or environmental. Even something like rodent activity or wind is enough to cause sprouting.

Lupins can be toxic depending on season, variety, and plant parts. Seeds for instance are often very toxic. A wide variety of less invasive and colorful lupines are available commercially.

REFERENCES:
–Tree Lupine, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Humboldt_Bay/wildlife_and_habitat/YellowBushLupine.html
–Lupine, https://www.britannica.com/plant/lupine
—Lupine arboreus, https://calscape.org/Lupinus-arboreus-()