Liz’s Corner
(More well-chosen thoughts and words of McCormick’s very own co-steward Liz Cozzi. Just in time for Halloween she provides a little pharmacology lesson regarding some of the more baneful plants of the Chicago region)
During this time of year, the forest preserve takes on a darker hue as yellow and white flowers are replaced by brown seed heads. One of my favorite seeds is the pod of the dogbane. It is so large and odd that it demands attention, and when crushed it explodes with silky white threads that stick on your fingers. I like it too because it reminds me of the wolfsbane, which unfortunately happened to be in bloom the night Lon Chaney, Jr. visited the gypsy’s place. Both dogbane and wolfbane are poisonous, “bane” meaning “death.”
Wolfsbane apparently refers to any member of the Aconitum family, such as monkshood, which contains the neuromuscular poison aconite. These are native to the Northern Hemisphere and have been widely used as a poison against wild animals. Dogbane, a name for various members of the Apocynum genus, appears widely in the Chicago area. The name, Apocynum, meaning “away dog!” referring to its repellent/poisonous properties. The toxic principle, cymarin, was used as a cardiac stimulant in olden days, but the plant is more commonly associated with livestock poisoning, with as little as 15 g of leaves being reportedly lethal to cattle.
A final “bane” appears in the Chicago area: henbane, Hyocyamus niger, a member of the Solanaceae family. This Eurasian transplant appeared in cultivation in McHenry County. The toxic principle in this plant is a combination of hallucinogenic alkaloids, and it was reportedly used during the Middle Ages in witches’ brews. I don’t know about you, but all this talk about “banes” is giving me the willies. Better return to the movie I was watching, “Son of Dracula.”
