[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255656]Nice one! I guffawed…out loud even.
For those who might be considering oleander tea and don’t know, it is toxic.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that is what they gave Socrates
[QUOTE=Scott R. Brown;1255659]Yes, that is what they gave Socrates[/QUOTE]
I thought it was hemlock, but really both will do you in pretty effectively. It’s strange to me just how prevalent oleander is in landscaping, school yards…etc., considering how toxic it is.
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255662]I thought it was hemlock, but really both will do you in pretty effectively. It’s strange to me just how prevalent oleander is in landscaping, school yards…etc., considering how toxic it is.[/QUOTE]
I’ve actually heard both, I think I’ll look it up.
I agree about the landscaping.
Yeah it looks like hemlock. I am trying to figure out what historical figure died from oleander now
[QUOTE=Scott R. Brown;1255663]I’ve actually heard both, I think I’ll look it up.
I agree about the landscaping.
Yeah it looks like hemlock. I am trying to figure out what historical figure died from oleander now[/QUOTE]
I looked it up and so far can only find an urban tale of a boy scout troop being poisoned because they roasted hot dogs on oleander sticks. It’d probably make you sick doing this but I don’t think there would be enough poison transferred to kill a person.
Edit: Okay, so I was just speaking to my mother in law who is visiting today. She said when they lived in Greece she would see signs along hiking trails and parks warning about the dangers of oleander. Apparently the northern Europeans who were not familiar with tropical oleander would sometimes use oleander branches to roast hot dogs and burn in fires. She said every year many people would get sick and a few would die from this. So, I guess roasting hot dogs on it can kill a person.
Yeah I am thinking someone in Greece or Rome, either a person or a government used oleander instead of hemlock, but I can’t find any reference either.
Maybe it was Persia. I put in just about every kind of search string I could think of, and didn’t come up with anything. So, I am at a loss now of where I heard about oleander.
A Brief History of the Oleander Plant
Medicinal use of the oleander plant dates back at least 3500 years. Historical records show that the Mesopotamians in the 15th century BC believed in the healing properties of oleander. The Babylonians used a mixture of oleander and licorice to treat hangovers. Roman soldiers also regularly took an oleander extract for hangovers. Pliny, the Elder of ancient Greece, wrote about the appearance and properties of oleander. Arab physicians first used oleander as a cancer treatment in the 8th century AD.
This is the best I’ve got so far.
[QUOTE=Scott R. Brown;1255676]A Brief History of the Oleander Plant
This is the best I’ve got so far.[/QUOTE]
Clearly my imagination made it up out of thin air!:eek:
[QUOTE=Scott R. Brown;1255677]Clearly my imagination made it up out of thin air!:eek:[/QUOTE]
No worries. I’m sure you heard it somewhere, but you never know, it may have just come to you from the aether. It’s just as bad as hemlock and listed as one of the 10 most common poison plants. It’s interesting that it has medicinal uses.
[QUOTE=Scott R. Brown;1255649]It’s a topical application, not internal.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that was exactly my point.
Regarding pine. Interesting thing about pine sap. There’s a reason wood******s like pine trees.
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255681]No worries. I’m sure you heard it somewhere, but you never know, it may have just come to you from the aether. It’s just as bad as hemlock and listed as one of the 10 most common poison plants. It’s interesting that it has medicinal uses.[/QUOTE]
First rule of toxicology, EVERYTHING is toxic. That’s sort of the big point of the naturalist fallacy with regards to medicine. Even water can kill you. It all comes down to molarity. Toxicity is what makes medicine, medicine. Everything listed in this thread works because it either degrades cellular membrane, dehydrates a cell to point of death, interferes with transfer of oxygen, or other such rather nasty mechanisms. If there were any point I wish I could make clear to all the homeopathists of the world, its this here. There is no such thing as a non-toxic compound. Safe, is merely a matter of relative concentration. Toxicity, is why “medicine” is more powerful than “folk remedy.” The very thing that people complain about with medicine, is the reason why it works to begin with. No one competent, ever argued that medicine was “good” for you. Its simply less bad for you than the infection you are trying to kill. And there’s a danger the other way. If you take something that is not strong enough to actually kill what you are trying to get rid of, you now select for even stronger resistance in what you failed to kill.
Down south its always funny when you look at what people traditionally eat. Pokeweed soup, anyone?
[QUOTE=SoCo KungFu;1255699]Down south its always funny when you look at what people traditionally eat. Pokeweed soup, anyone?[/QUOTE]
We have that stuff all over our land. It’s not very nutritious and has to be double boiled and for the record I’ve never tried it. Anybody know how it tastes? I’m picturing something like collard greens.
Safe, is merely a matter of relative concentration.
This should be the quote of the week.
There are a few sharp knives on this forum, a bunch of butter knives, and even a few wooden spoons, but you my friend are a scalpel. I’m thankful that you frequent these forums and as always I appreciate your response.
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255715]We have that stuff all over our land. It’s not very nutritious and has to be double boiled and for the record I’ve never tried it. Anybody know how it tastes? I’m picturing something like collard greens.[/QUOTE]
An old botanist I know used to eat it as a kid, claimed it tasted really acrid. I won’t touch the stuff. If I’m going to eat a plant that could kill me, at least yuca tastes good.
[QUOTE=SoCo KungFu;1255723]An old botanist I know used to eat it as a kid, claimed it tasted really acrid. I won’t touch the stuff. If I’m going to eat a plant that could kill me, at least yuca tastes good.[/QUOTE]
Cool, thanks! I think I’ll pass on the poke salad as well. I’m not into acrid.
I had yuca a few months ago and loved it. It tasted like something between a sweet and white potato. I don’t think yuca (one c) is poisonous, although I do believe yucca (two c’s) is. It’s a different plant despite the similarity in names. The one with two c’s is an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, lathering agent, or basically a soap.
I saw yuca at the store the other day and wondered how many people went home and dug up their poisonous yucca thinking they would get a tasty meal. I imagine the yucca cooked up with a nasty smelling soapy froth so hopefully they got the hint if they did in fact dig up a yucca to eat.
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255724]Cool, thanks! I think I’ll pass on the poke salad as well. I’m not into acrid.
I had yuca a few months ago and loved it. It tasted like something between a sweet and white potato. I don’t think yuca (one c) is poisonous, although I do believe yucca (two c’s) is. It’s a different plant despite the similarity in names. The one with two c’s is an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, lathering agent, or basically a soap.
I saw yuca at the store the other day and wondered how many people went home and dug up their poisonous yucca thinking they would get a tasty meal. I imagine the yucca cooked up with a nasty smelling soapy froth so hopefully they got the hint if they did in fact dig up a yucca to eat.[/QUOTE]
Yucca are agavoids. Yuca (one c) is the toxic Cassava plant.
[QUOTE=SoCo KungFu;1255797]Yucca are agavoids. Yuca (one c) is the toxic Cassava plant.[/QUOTE]
I just read all kinds of information on yucca and yuca.
You’re right, yuca (cassava) is toxic and there are basically two different types. The smaller, sweet cassava can be boiled to remove the toxins, and the larger, bitter cassava needs to be ground into flower, soaked and leached several times to remove the toxins. Both contain cyanide, but the bitter one has much more.
Yucca does have edible parts and many other uses such as shampoo, so after a little more research I may add this one, especially the soap tree yucca to our landscape. One of my goals with this little farm is to fill the wild areas of our property with useful plants that don’t need to be tended. Plants like aloe, possibly yucca, all kinds of medicinals like golden seal, echinacea, ginseng…etc., and of course wild edibles.
For those who may be interested, here’s some information on yuca, and yucca. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255633]Here’s one for the outdoor survivalists. Pine sap will seal wounds like super glue and has the added bonus of being antiseptic.
This next use of pine sap probably deserves it’s own thread. Indians have been making carbon fiber for thousands of years. Take pine sap, heat and mix with wood ash and coat that on the sinew that is wrapped around an arrow head which is affixed to an arrow shaft and you have carbon fiber. The same pine sap/wood ash mix can be used to glue a stone knife blade into an antler handle as well. Heat the handle a bit and jab the tang of the blade into it with the pinen sap/wood ash mix and when it cools it’s solid. Spears can also be made like the arrows but with a larger point.[/QUOTE]
Good to know. Filed away for future use. I’ve heard a lot of uses for saps, tried some on my own, but never as super glue. I was aware of people using it as an antiseptic, but never really looked into it. But the glue part I think could be very useful. Wish I knew that 15 years ago. Now I have to try this at home just to confirm, but it sounds pretty freakin handy in a pinch. Add that one to the repertoire for sure. How strong is it? How far do you trust it? How long does it last?
You think melaleuca alternifolia would do well where you live?
[QUOTE=Syn7;1255813]How strong is it? How far do you trust it? How long does it last?
You think melaleuca alternifolia would do well where you live?[/QUOTE]
Melaleuca alternifolia, is used for making tea tree oil. Awesome stuff and works well for the topic of this thread. It will grow in Texas, so I may have to look at planting some of it along our creek.
The pine sap holds well on wounds. It mixes with the blood, hardens and then seals tight. It’s antiseptic qualities are well known. The original Pine-Sol ingredients were something like 12% pine oil.
If you use pine sap and wood ash to make glue it cools/dries hard as a rock. I’ve attached a photo of a knife that was made for me by my friend who is the head of archeology of the Choctaw nation. He only uses traditional methods and attached the blade on this knife to the antler handle using the pine sap carbon glue. You can see that it’s black as onyx and a bit shiny even. I can tell you that the stone blade will break long before the glue. Most of the time when arrow heads break off a traditional arrow the glue and sinew wrap are left intact. In fact, Choctaw arrow heads that people find on the ground aren’t normally from fired arrows because they don’t fall off but rather break off. Most intact arrow heads are from a stash pile or discarded ones that didn’t meet the makers criteria. Making this glue is definitely something you want to add to your personal inventory of skills.
[QUOTE=GoldenBrain;1255641]I do know this, and I certainly appreciate you sharing the information. Pine needle tea with a bit of honey is pretty tasty.
I’m an avid hiker so when I lived in North Carolina I used to run across sassafras root all the time. It also makes a pretty yummy tea. Something I learned from the mountain folk up there is how to make a tea made from the native holly. It’s got a pretty good kick from the caffeine and supposedly is very high in antioxidants. It tastes just like green tea.[/QUOTE]
Taking an ecology course and on the hike the prof. showed us “wild carrot”, sassafras, sumac, chicory plants. Chicory root can be used as a coffee substitute, too bad I don’t drink coffee lol. I like the outdoors but it’s basically winter a good third of the year here. That and we went on a trip to an organic farm a classmate co-owns small little place and that was pretty fun.
[QUOTE=Raipizo;1255960]Taking an ecology course and on the hike the prof. showed us “wild carrot”, sassafras, sumac, chicory plants. Chicory root can be used as a coffee substitute, too bad I don’t drink coffee lol. I like the outdoors but it’s basically winter a good third of the year here. That and we went on a trip to an organic farm a classmate co-owns small little place and that was pretty fun.[/QUOTE]
That sounds like a fun time out in the woods learning with the prof. We have staghorn sumac all around our property here in North Texas but sadly I haven’t run across any sassafras since I was in NC. My great aunt used to make a pretty tasty sumac jelly. I’m not much of a jelly maker so I haven’t tried it yet with our sumac but maybe one day. I didn’t know that about chicory root, so thanks for sharing. I love learning new things. Oh, and I’m sure your professor warned you to be careful when harvesting wild carrot because it looks a lot like poison hemlock.