“I believe in God, although I live very h appily with atheists…It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley; but not at all so to believe or not in God.’ – Denis Diderot
The members of the umbellifer family which I discussed last month are edible, beneficial plants. But there are some members that are dangerous or even deadly.
In 399 BC Socrates was convicted of impiety and the corruption of youth. His punishment was death by drinking an infusion containing poison hemlock, Conium maculatum. The name leads to much confusion; it is not related to the hemlock tree which is a completely different species. Poison hemlock is a deciduous plant native to Eurasia and imported to the western hemisphere by colonists. It grows six to ten feet tall with smooth mottled stalks topped by white umbels from June until August. The toxins cause dizziness, trembling, paralysis, and death due to respiratory failure.
Water hemlock, Cicuta maculate, is a native poisonous umbellifer whose white clusters of flowers are looser than those of Queen Anne’s lace. It takes only a small quantity of water hemlock to cause death to any creature who eats it. There are other native umbellifers that are edible such as cow parsnip, Heracleum lanthanum, and water parsnip, Sium suave, but they are easy to confuse with water hemlock; best to stay away.
“Turn and run Nothing can stop them… Giant hogweed lives.” –Genesis (Banks/Rutherford/Gabriel/Hackett)
Many years ago, a twelve-foot stalk appeared in my garden and produced a huge, magnificent bloom, a massive umbellifer. At the time I was ignorant and simply marveled at the plant. Two years later there were scores of them, and I identified and learned the dangers of giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum. Native to the Caucasus Mountains between Turkey and Russia, it was introduced to Britain in the nineteenth century and in the United States by the twentieth; and sold in nurseries as the ‘cartwheel flower’. The danger of hogweed is that its sap is phototoxic, causing severe caustic burns and blisters on skin when exposed to sunlight. If the sap is in contact with the eyes, temporary or permanent blindness can occur. I tried to eradicate the plants by carefully chopping emerging plants and roots but was unsuccessful and finally resorted to chemical eradication.
Giant hogweed has inspired two nightmarish artistic works that I am aware of. In 1971, the band, Genesis, recorded “The Return of the Giant Hogweed”, a song about an attack on humans by the plants. In 2019, an episode of ‘The Walking Dead’, included characters with hogweed flowers growing out of their decomposing bodies.
Another member of the umbellifer family is much hated and cursed, though it is not dangerous or deadly, and, in fact is edible. It is Aegopodium podagraria, also known as bishop’s weed, gout weed, ground elder, or herb Gerard.
“Herbe Gerard growth of it selfe in gardens without setting or sowing, and is so fruitful in his increase, that where it once hath taken root, it will be hardly got out againe, spoiling and getting every year more ground, to the annoying of better herbs.”—John Gerard 1597
The insidious goutweed is a native of Eurasia that has been imported throughout the globe. In the Middle Ages it was cultivated as an edible green and as an herbal medicine to treat gout. Members of the church often had access to a richer diet and suffered more often from gout. Pleas were made to St. Gerard who claimed to have been cured by using the plant. Amazingly the nicknames for this hated invasive plant have a long history, back to suffering medieval bishops.
After all those unpleasant umbellifers, I want to return to some wonderful family members. Zizia aptera, golden Alexanders, are native wild flowers with bright, delicate yellow blooms in early summer. Look for them by the edges of the woodland.
In the cultivated garden there are two outstanding annuals that I have grown. The blue lace flower, Trachymene caerulea, sometimes listed as Didiscus caerulea, is native to Australia. The pale blue umbels are smaller and more rounded than many umbellifers. The white lace flower, Ammi majus, has pristine discs with separated florets. Both plants, as with many annuals, need constant deadheading of spent blossoms to ensure summer-long flowering.
“No plant is more popular with butterflies, hoverflies, bees, and wasps than the lovely, plum-colored umbellifer Angelica gigas.” –Monty Don
There are over fifty species of Angelica. The origination of the name was from the dream of a monk where an angel appeared claiming that the plant would cure the plague. The Norwegian A. archangelica grows up to the Arctic Circle and sweet stems and roots used in candies, liqueurs, and perfumes. The American A. atropurpurea is native in our area. The biennial plants reach six feet with domed umbels in late summer. Native people have used the herb in purification ceremony and as a cure for panic, hysteria, worms, and legal troubles. This might be the plant for our time.
Angelica gigas, native to Korea and China, is a spectacular architectural plant in the garden. By late summer, its burgundy wine-colored stalk is topped by a domed flower that is constantly covered with bees and wasps. All parts of the plant are infused with the dark coloring, a beautiful addition. The year following the bloom, look for seedlings which will bloom their second summer.
The umbellifer family is diverse, containing members delicious, deadly, detested, and delicate. Eat some carrots with parsley and dill; pick a bouquet of Queen Anne’s lace or blue lace flower; curse the gout weed in your garden; and stay away from the dangerous members.
“Purple clover, Queen Anne’s lace Crimson hair across your face You could make me cry if you don’t know.”—Bob Dylan
September 2020