Wicked Plants, by Amy Stewart

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
October 15th, 2009
Filed in Organic Book Reviews
Tags: books, poisoning, poisonous plants

Wicked Plants, by Amy Stewart, was published this spring or summer.  I already forget when, because it feels like we’ve had this book around forever, or at least had Amy around forever doing PR for it.  Her PR guy is a genius!  If you’ve seen this book everywhere, and you have wondered if it is worth the hype, I’m here to tell you:  IT IS.  If you like reading about weird and wonderful plants, garden with small children or pets, or want to clandestinely poison your neighbor (JUST KIDDING), you need to get this book!

The Plant that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and other Botanical Atrocities

That’s the subtitle.  It promises all kinds of fun, especially near Halloween.  The plant that killed Lincoln’s mother was Eupatorium rugosum, white snakeroot.  If a cow ate this weed, it would pass along the poisons in the plant through its milk.  People who drank this milk were said to have “milk sickness.”  The symptoms:  weakness, vomiting, tremors and delirium.  Sounds LOVELY.  It is possible to buy cultivars of this plant in the garden center, notably Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ which has dark leaves.

Here are some other delightful plants described in this book, which are probably in your home garden:

• Aconite, also called “monkshood” because the purple flowers are shaped like hoods.  This beauty causes paralysis, and stops the heart.
• Oleander, which causes nausea and vomiting, slowed heart rate and other symptoms, is common in southern gardens.  If you have kids, DON’T PLANT THIS IN YOUR GARDEN.
• Yew, which is THE FOUNDATION PLANT OF CHOICE around houses built during the 1970s and 1980s, has toxic seeds, leaves, stems, etc.

Try to Control Your Terror

If you pick up this book, you might be afraid to plant a garden or let your kids run around outside.  Right after the book came out, there was even some pretty heated discussion about whether plants should be labeled as poisonous.  The books is a handy little reference if you are a serious gardener and want to stay away from poisonous, weedy or otherwise unpleasant plants.  On the flip side, the author has a poisonous plants garden at her house, and you can too, by finding the varieties discussed in the book.

In addition to discussing plants that are poisonous to humans and pets, Stewart also highlights plants that are invasive, weedy, and, in the case of Kudzu, plants that have basically smothered an entire region of the country.  It is a fun and functional book.  I enjoy reading the back stories and historical information about the notorious plants I already know are poisonous, and I learned some new stuff, too!

Pretty Pictures

A bonus in Wicked Plants are the botanical etchings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs and the drawings by Jonathon Rosen.  Both add to the overall creepy atmosphere of the book, which is great for a conversation piece or coffee table book in addition to a reference.

If you want to watch the AWESOME trailer video for the book, visit Amy’s website.  If you’re one of the, like, THREE people in the WORLD who don’t already have this book well, get it from us!  You won’t be sorry, (cue cackling laughter) heh heh.