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Why was hemlock used on children?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

January 20, 2003

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Killer Picks: Elderberry 'Black Beauty', Fire King Achillea, Thorndale Ivy—>Click here.

Rudbeckia, Astilbe, Phlox, Lenten Rose, Centennial Magnolia—>Click here.

Hemlock (Conium maculatum Linnaeus) is native to roadsides, ditches, and floodplains of Europe and western Asia and naturalized in the Americas. It is a member of the Apiaceae, the parsley and carrot family. Hemlock is a beautiful weed and virulently toxic.

Historiated Initial "D" of an Apothecary,
from "The Natural History of Pliny the Elder" (23-79 AD) Giclee Print
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John Gerard knew the plant as Cicuta. There are numerous toxic members in the Apiaceae, all similar in appearance. By Gerard's time in the late 1500s, the plants were a mass of confused names. Conium maculatum was separated from the rest by Linnaeus for it was one that grew in Greece; he named the plant using its ancient Greek name, koneion.

Pliny the Elder believed the stems of hemlock edible with only the leaves and seeds poisonous. The antidote, he thought, was wine, "The remedy lies in the warming nature of wine, if taken before the hemlock reaches the vital parts. Hemlock kills by thickening the blood--its other powerful property--and so spots are seen on the bodies of people killed by it." Still Pliny felt the plant useful for "checking running eyes in summer and for alleviating pains in them." (Natural History,
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Title Page to the Second Edition of "The Herball" by John Gerard 1633
Giclee Print by John Payne
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translated John F. Healy, 1991)

Pliny added two odd uses for hemlock. "Anaxilaus is the authority who states that if young girls' breasts are rubbed with hemlock they will always be firm. If it is rubbed on men's testicles at puberty it suppresses sexual desire." Since religious authorities considered the writings of the ancients as truth, the practice continued through the Middle Ages.

Gerard attempted to halt this misuse on children. "It is...very rash...to lay the leaves of Hemlocke to the stones of yong boyes or virgin brests, and by that meanes to keepe those parts from growing great: for it doth not only easily cause those members to pine away, but also hurteth the heart and liver, being outwardly applied....Hemlocke is a very evill, dangerous, hurtfull, and poisonous herbe, insomuch that whoever taketh of it into his body dieth remedilesse...therefore not to be applied outwardly, much lesse taken inwardly. Hemlocke...is not possessed with any one good facultie...and...not to be used." (The Herbal, 1633 edition)

Dan Tenaglia has posted several great photographs of Conium maculatum. To view his photographs, click on the link:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Conium_maculatum_page.html

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Achillea millefolium 'Fire King'

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Mound-shaped perennials with fernlike foliage produce dozens of soft feathery flowers on 20-40" tall spikes in late spring to early summer. This Red Fanal Astilbe has magnificent plumelike blooms that are superb for accenting fresh- flower arrangements.

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Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) is actually a member of the buttercup family. Its flowers bloom during the Christian celebration of Lent, hence the name. Oiginally from the Caucasus mountains, helleborus has long been a favorite in the U.S. This perennial, early blooming wonder is a joyful winter buster no garden should be without! Our Royal Lenten Rose Collection is made up of the very best helleborus in cultivation and comes in a beautiful range of stunning colors: red, blue, pink, and yellow, plus a unique speckled variety that will add excitement to any display.

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Centennial Magnolia blooms later in the spring, giving it a better chance of escaping frost damage. Rose flushed buds open to reveal fragrant blooms with as many as 30 frilly slender petals in crisp white with a hint of pink.

Use in the landscape as a small tree or large shrub. Grows 15-20' tall and spreads up to 15'. Magnolia stellata ‘Centennial’

#1 field-grown plant. Deer tend to avoid. Shipped in 4" Pot. Zone 5 to 9

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Unique Characteristics: Introduced in 1979 by Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University to commemorate its 100th anniversary. Blooms later in spring than other star magnolias giving it a better chance of escaping frost damage. Pink flushed buds open to reveal blooms with numerous long narrow strap like petals in white. Approximately 30 petals per bloom creates a very frilly look to each bloom. Upright, dense growth habit can be used in the landscape as a large shrub or small tree.