Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Possumhaw



Ilex decidua, which besides the wonderful berries has the best possible English name for a native North American plant.

4 comments:

  1. Curiously, possumhaw isn't actually a kind of haw. It is a type of holly plant, rather than a hawthorn. This strikes me as an exceptionally odd way to name a plant, because true haws are edible, while holly fruit is quite poisonous.

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  2. These taste bad but are not poisonous. If they were, the Park Service wouldn't plant them everywhere.

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  3. You have a lot of faith in your local Park Service, it seems. I'm used to more... inept... sorts of public services in my locality.

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  4. Also worth noting, not all varieties of holly are equally poisonous, but they're all at least somewhat toxic.

    Possumhaw may not easily harm an adult, but it can readily harm a child or a household pet. Naturally it depends on the individual and on how large of a dose they receive, but they're certainly not an "edible" fruit in the standard sense. Even ignoring the taste, you certainly wouldn't want to make a pie out of them, or even just eat a large handful.

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