Successful use of plants in a survival situation depends on positive identification. Knowing poisonous plants is as important to a survivor as knowing edible plants. Knowing the poisonous plants will help you avoid sustaining injuries from them.
HOW PLANTS POISON
Plants generally poison by —
• Ingestion. When a person eats a part of a poisonous plant.
• Contact. When a person makes contact with a poisonous plant that causes any type of skin irritation or dermatitis.
• Absorption or inhalation. When a person either absorbs the poison through the skin or inhales it into the respiratory system.
Plant poisoning ranges from minor irritation to death. A common question asked is, "How poisonous is this plant?" It is difficult to say how poisonous plants are because —
• Some plants require contact with a large amount of the plant before noticing any adverse reaction while others will cause death with only a small amount.
• Every plant will vary in the amount of toxins it contains due to different growing conditions and slight variations in subspecies.
• Every person has a different level of resistance to toxic substances.
• Some persons may be more sensitive to a particular plant.
Some common misconceptions about poisonous plants are —
• Watch the animals and eat what they eat. Most of the time this statement is true, but some animals can eat plants that are poisonous to humans.
• Boil the plant in water and any poisons will be removed. Boiling removes many poisons, but not all.
• Plants with a red color are poisonous. Some plants that are red are poisonous, but not all.
The point is, there is no one rule to aid in identifying poisonous plants. You must make an effort to learn as much about them as possible.
译文:
花花草草中的黑名单
在求生环境中，要安全使用植物，靠的是正确的辨识方法。认识有毒植物和了解可食用的植物一样重要，认识有毒植物可帮助您避免受到伤害。
有毒植物
植物中毒通常透过 —
• 食用： 吃了有毒植物。
• 接触： 接触到有毒植物，可能会引起红肿或发炎。
• 吸收或吸入： 从皮肤或消化系统吸入毒液。
植物中毒可能只是引起轻微的反应，也可能导致死亡。“这种植物有多毒？”是一个常见的问题。但这很难说，因为：
• 有些植物需要大量接触才会产生反应，有些则只需要很少的量便会导致死亡。
• 不同的植物所含的毒量会因生长的环境及条件不同而有差异。
• 每个人对于毒物有不同的抗体反应。
• 有些人则对某些植物特别敏感。
一些常见的误解包括：
• 看看动物吃什么，跟着它们吃。这种说法大部份的时候是对的，但是有些植物对动物没有毒，却对人类有毒。
• 用水煮过即可去除植物的毒性。的确，但并无法完全去除。
• 带有红色的植物就是有毒的。 有些是，但有些不是。
重点是，没有一条通用的准则可以用来辨别有毒植物， 您必须尽可能学习认识各种有毒植物。