Did you know:

• Hemlock has several names including Conium maculatum, Poison Parsley, Devil’s Bread, and Poison Hemlock.
• Conium comes from the Greek word konas – “to whirl” – because vertigo is one of the symptoms from eating this plant.
• Hemlock is a highly poisonous member of the carrot family.  It also affects animals and can cause birth defects in pregnant mammals.
• All parts of this invasive plant are toxic, especially the seeds, but it is thought to be less harmful when grown in colder climates or when dried out.
• It grows small white flowers on a speckled stem that turns purple at the base.  All parts are hairless.
• A flowering bush smells of mice, but the crushed leaves and roots are pungent like parsnip.
• Hemlock prefers warm, moist soil so it often flourishes alongside streams, ditches, and the edges of fields.
• The Ancient Greeks used hemlock to execute condemned prisoners, the most famous being the philosopher Socrates.
• In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the three Weird Sisters add “Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark” to their magic cauldron – a sure sign they were up to no good!

Sources:

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. David Bevington (Fourth Ed.) (Worldwide: Longman, 1997) 

Stuart, Malcolm. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism (London: Black Cat, 1987)

Wikipedia, “Conium maculatum” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum

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