How Using Poisonous Plants can be to your Advantage

Since we all have them, we all try and get rid of them, I thought I would make a list of poisonous plants and their uses we have all been told we can't use, worse, they will kill us.

I would like to note that some people have allergies that could make any ingestion of any plant they have never tried before a bad idea. There for any reference to ingesting a known poisonous plant is strictly for historical purposes and entertainment. However you may want to give the topical remedies a try. They could work.

Black Nightshade or Belladonna

I have been trying to keep these poisonous plants under control for 20yrs this fall. I have failed desperately. This is the plant that made me stop trying to beat them and join them. If I can't get rid of it, how can I use it?

If you take a handful of the leaves and roll them up in your hands, in a ball, then rub them on skin sours, skin cancer and ulcers, bruises and even areas with arthritis, it works.

They say you can make a light tea from the leaves to help with curious of the liver, or fry a small amount of the root in butter to make one fall asleep. In the Middle Ages and renaissance schools actually taught how to prepare and use this herb, as it was a common cure-all.

Jack in the Pulpit

Jack in the Pulpit is a poisonous plant that contains calcium oxalate crystals in all parts of the plant and is very dangerous when eaten raw.

Jack in the Pulpit will make your mouth burn and could cause death by making your throat and mouth swell to the point where you can't breathe. It also gives one heck of a belly ache.

If washed and dried properly the cooked root of Jack the Pulpit can be used to treat rheumatism, snake bites and bronchitis.

Jack in the Pulpit has also been used to induce sterility.

May Apple, also known as Mandrake

This plant is just plain poisonous. As a kid I was told that you can eat the apple only if a deer ate it first. You can eat the fruit and I know people that make jelly out of it and candy; however it has to be ripe and it is only ripe enough to eat for about a day. Thus the saying only when the deer take the first bite. The animals know when the fruits are ripe.

The root can be used as a strong laxative and a wormer, (for people not animals). The root is currently used in some cancer medications created by Abbot laboratories. The root can be applied topically to remove warts and tumors. The root is also a wonderful pesticide.

There could be a huge list here of poisonous plants, however these are the ones I find in my own back yard, and I’m sure you may find in yours. They are found all over Europe as well as North and even South America. Next time you pull a weed, try identifying it, or if you know what it is, see if you can't find a positive use for this unwelcome guest in your garden.

By Gypsy, our resident homestead blogger from One Sky Ranch Gypsy's Wanderings Homestead Blog