conuly

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism. If the toxins they produce are no longer toxic to their predators, they tend not to pass on their genes as well as others who've stayed current in the biological arms race.

Nonetheless, wild plants tend to not be as poisonous overall as most people think, and wild mushrooms even more so- the vast majority fall into the general categories of "tastes foul", "inedible", or "mildly toxic to most people", especially if their toxins are aimed specifically at something something that's not you. If you're willing to spend hours and hours carefully monitoring yourself for side effects, it's definitely possible to survive by foraging.

...That being said, there ARE plenty of things out there that will kill you in various nasty ways, some of which look practically identical to things which are harmless, and some "harmless" edible species have toxins in other parts which we don't normally eat. Some plants which are very poisonous to humans are harmless to various other animals, and people are genetically or biologically hypersensitive to certain toxins and what might only rank as "mildly unpleasant" to someone else could require and ER visit for them. Additionally, sometimes completely harmless and edible species can become effectively poisonous if there's enough toxins in the environment... or if they're growing on something else with toxins of its own. Careless collecting and letting different specimens touch each other too much can also contaminate nonpoisonous species.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

From:

As my perserverations lean more towards mycology in particular than general botany, I can't speak much for the rest of the website you linked, but this guy's mushroom knowledge is spot-on, as far as I can tell. (He even discusses Inky Caps and how they interfere with the body's ability to metabolize alcohol! ) If he's as good with plants as he is with fungi, you'd be in good hands with someone like him as your guide.

From:

Mulberries aren't poisonous. Speaking from personal experience. In fact, they're darn tasty.

(That said? Sufficient qualities of green mulberries apparently cause corgis who ate 1/5 their body weight in said mulberries to hallucinate and/or act like they are on a Trip. Just saying.)

From:

conuly

I know, I know! Though they do cause me some gas....

But I've been told at least twice by people watching me (kids) that I should stop, they're poison. *sighs*

(They say the same of mint leaves and rose petals and honeysuckle.)

From:

conuly

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism.

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.

From:

conuly

He has so many tours set up, and sanctioned in big parks like Prospect Park and Central Park, I assume he at least isn't killing most of his clients :)

But your comments are definitely reassuring.

From:

Well, moer for you then. :)

From:

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

Like I said, it's an arms race- sometimes we're behind, sometimes we're ahead, a lot of the time it's fairly even. There are some poisons like amatoxins that will kill you very nastily, and others like mint oil that we're so immune to by now that they're not even considered toxic. (And then there are non-toxic defense mechanisms like thorns.) Additionalyl, some of nature is actually more or less on our side. Many plants are more than 'willing' to let animals chew on parts of them if it means their pollen or seeds will get distributed better. Fruits and berries in particular are often meant to be eaten, albeit not always by humans or other mammals.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.
I'm glad I was able to be of help.

From:

Er... scratch that about the mint, probably. A significant part of its harmlessness is probably because we're not the intended targets rather than because of evolution... capsaicin would have been a more accurate example, but it's late here and I'm starting to get a bit muzzy.

From:

marveen.livejournal.com

Ignorant citybred yokels, that's all. They imagine, and teach their children to imagine, that anything not sealed up in plastic is dangerous.

As said so ably above, some "poisonous" plants just give you the bellyache or the green-apple quickstep. (Holly berries, though harmless to birds, are a potent emetic for humans.) Others are Not To Be Messed About With. (Look up water hemlock or dieffenbachia for some nasty, nasty effects.)

Euell Gibbons once wrote that the way these myths spread are usually through a mother being unfamiliar with a strange plant. Since she doesn't want her kids experimenting with it, she scares them away from it by telling them it's poisonous. Kids grow up and tell their own offspring the same (since mothers don't lie) and so we end up with people who honestly believe that huckleberries and sheep sorrel are "poisonous".

I wouldn't eat rose petals that were neither from wild roses (away from roads) nor from my own pampered plantings, though. People sometimes spray them with stuff against bugs and insecticide is not a healthy dietary supplement.

From:

conuly

Ick, I know. That's why I only munch on my own roses :)

From:

Ooh, did I tell you!?

I taught Seth the love of Honeysuckle. and now everytime he sees them, when we are together, he begs to stop and have some "honey flowers please!!!!".

I am proud. :D

From:

conuly

Aw. Him and Ana both, then.

From:

Of course. Did you think I thought you'd let Ana suffer through life with no honeysuckle??

From:

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism. If the toxins they produce are no longer toxic to their predators, they tend not to pass on their genes as well as others who've stayed current in the biological arms race.

Nonetheless, wild plants tend to not be as poisonous overall as most people think, and wild mushrooms even more so- the vast majority fall into the general categories of "tastes foul", "inedible", or "mildly toxic to most people", especially if their toxins are aimed specifically at something something that's not you. If you're willing to spend hours and hours carefully monitoring yourself for side effects, it's definitely possible to survive by foraging.

...That being said, there ARE plenty of things out there that will kill you in various nasty ways, some of which look practically identical to things which are harmless, and some "harmless" edible species have toxins in other parts which we don't normally eat. Some plants which are very poisonous to humans are harmless to various other animals, and people are genetically or biologically hypersensitive to certain toxins and what might only rank as "mildly unpleasant" to someone else could require and ER visit for them. Additionally, sometimes completely harmless and edible species can become effectively poisonous if there's enough toxins in the environment... or if they're growing on something else with toxins of its own. Careless collecting and letting different specimens touch each other too much can also contaminate nonpoisonous species.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

From:

As my perserverations lean more towards mycology in particular than general botany, I can't speak much for the rest of the website you linked, but this guy's mushroom knowledge is spot-on, as far as I can tell. (He even discusses Inky Caps and how they interfere with the body's ability to metabolize alcohol! ) If he's as good with plants as he is with fungi, you'd be in good hands with someone like him as your guide.

From:

Mulberries aren't poisonous. Speaking from personal experience. In fact, they're darn tasty.

(That said? Sufficient qualities of green mulberries apparently cause corgis who ate 1/5 their body weight in said mulberries to hallucinate and/or act like they are on a Trip. Just saying.)

From:

conuly

I know, I know! Though they do cause me some gas....

But I've been told at least twice by people watching me (kids) that I should stop, they're poison. *sighs*

(They say the same of mint leaves and rose petals and honeysuckle.)

From:

conuly

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism.

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.

From:

conuly

He has so many tours set up, and sanctioned in big parks like Prospect Park and Central Park, I assume he at least isn't killing most of his clients :)

But your comments are definitely reassuring.

From:

Well, moer for you then. :)

From:

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

Like I said, it's an arms race- sometimes we're behind, sometimes we're ahead, a lot of the time it's fairly even. There are some poisons like amatoxins that will kill you very nastily, and others like mint oil that we're so immune to by now that they're not even considered toxic. (And then there are non-toxic defense mechanisms like thorns.) Additionalyl, some of nature is actually more or less on our side. Many plants are more than 'willing' to let animals chew on parts of them if it means their pollen or seeds will get distributed better. Fruits and berries in particular are often meant to be eaten, albeit not always by humans or other mammals.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.
I'm glad I was able to be of help.

From:

Er... scratch that about the mint, probably. A significant part of its harmlessness is probably because we're not the intended targets rather than because of evolution... capsaicin would have been a more accurate example, but it's late here and I'm starting to get a bit muzzy.

From:

marveen.livejournal.com

Ignorant citybred yokels, that's all. They imagine, and teach their children to imagine, that anything not sealed up in plastic is dangerous.

As said so ably above, some "poisonous" plants just give you the bellyache or the green-apple quickstep. (Holly berries, though harmless to birds, are a potent emetic for humans.) Others are Not To Be Messed About With. (Look up water hemlock or dieffenbachia for some nasty, nasty effects.)

Euell Gibbons once wrote that the way these myths spread are usually through a mother being unfamiliar with a strange plant. Since she doesn't want her kids experimenting with it, she scares them away from it by telling them it's poisonous. Kids grow up and tell their own offspring the same (since mothers don't lie) and so we end up with people who honestly believe that huckleberries and sheep sorrel are "poisonous".

I wouldn't eat rose petals that were neither from wild roses (away from roads) nor from my own pampered plantings, though. People sometimes spray them with stuff against bugs and insecticide is not a healthy dietary supplement.

From:

conuly

Ick, I know. That's why I only munch on my own roses :)

From:

Ooh, did I tell you!?

I taught Seth the love of Honeysuckle. and now everytime he sees them, when we are together, he begs to stop and have some "honey flowers please!!!!".

I am proud. :D

From:

conuly

Aw. Him and Ana both, then.

From: