Hemlock Water Dropwort

“Water Dropwort is a genus of plants of the natural order Umbelliferæ. A number of species are natives of Great Briatin, large perennial plants, with a strong and generally disagreeable aromatic smell, and compound or decomposed leaves. The common water dropwort and the hemlock water dropwort, or water hemlock, are both common in wet places in Great Britain and throughout Europe, and both are narcotic acid poisons. The roots of the latter have some resemblance to parsnips, and hence fatal accidents have frequently occurred. The fine-leaved water dropwort, called water fennel by the Germans, is also common in ditches and ponds both in Great Britain and on the Continent. It is not so poisonous as the other species just named. It was at one time erroneously regarded as a specific against pulmonary consumption; but it has been advantageously employed in pulmonary complaints."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

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