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I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

straightdope.com

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Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#51

Post by poutine »

JshWright wrote: post #20
poutine wrote: post #16

If you must eat plants and can't watch the animals then: Spread a bit on your skin, wait a while to see if there's a rash. Touch some to your lips and tongue, again waiting a while to see if there's a reaction. Eat a tiny bit, wait a while. Eat a larger bit and then wait. Continue upping the dose. This is from memory from the SAS survival guide. Should take days and isn't very safe but may be the best you've got.

This sounds vaguely familiar... like I just read an article with this advice, or something...

Ah, yeah I should have read the article. Oops.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#52

Post by nkurz »

billswift wrote: post #28
maxklein wrote: post #6

Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this: Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison? Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know? I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.

Many wild plants are bitter while being perfectly edible - pokeweed, for example, is widely eaten despite being rather bitter without preparation (it is still edible even raw, I've munched on it often when hiking as a teen). Others are perfectly tasty while being poison, some will just make you sick, but wild almonds are supposed to taste like domestic ones, but have enough cyanide to kill a child outright.

All other sources I have found suggest that mature poke leaves are poisonous until cooked. I'm not sure if Bill is a troll, wrong, or just of solid constitution, but please do your own research before taking his advice on wild edibles.

ps. I've also seen no one else claim that "wild almonds" taste like domestic almonds: "not even the most ardent nut lover among us will eat wild almonds; their lousy taste keeps us away" http://discovermagazine.com/1994/sep/biologyandmedici422

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#53

Post by billswift »

nkurz wrote: post #52
billswift wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many wild plants are bitter while being perfectly edible - pokeweed, for example, is widely eaten despite being rather bitter without preparation (it is still edible even raw, I've munched on it often when hiking as a teen). Others are perfectly tasty while being poison, some will just make you sick, but wild almonds are supposed to taste like domestic ones, but have enough cyanide to kill a child outright.

All other sources I have found suggest that mature poke leaves are poisonous until cooked. I'm not sure if Bill is a troll, wrong, or just of solid constitution, but please do your own research before taking his advice on wild edibles. ps. I've also seen no one else claim that "wild almonds" taste like domestic almonds: "not even the most ardent nut lover among us will eat wild almonds; their lousy taste keeps us awa…

I've seen claims both ways on leaves - poisonous and not - I've only eaten them cooked and don't particularly like them. The young stalks are the only part universally agreed not to be poison, that is the part I have eaten often (older stems gain poison later - rule of thumb is not to eat them after they start turning purple, though I have eaten them up until they started getting woody without problems). Some sources claim the berries are poisonous some claim not, but I grew up being told they were poison and have never tried them. And the root is universally agreed to be seriously poison.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#54

Post by stuartcw »

elblanco wrote: post #14
maxklein wrote: post #6

Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this: Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison? Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know? I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon

Yeah, Goya looks like and tastes like something you should definitely not eat but is a great food when cooked, despite it's bitter taste.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#55

Post by metra »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #19

I love how this guy clearly has no idea what he's talking about, relies primarily on a single source (US Army Survival Manual) that's based on decades of research and experience in these kinds of life-and-death situations, then proceeds to disagree with the source on multiple points. So much for fighting ignorance...

Cecil does know what he's talking about. The Straight Dope is a website based on people submitting questions to Cecil who, in turn, does the research and presents the findings for you along with some of his trademark witticism. It's been a wildly successful website.

The readers know the premise - that Cecil, not an expert but definitely a pretty smart guy - is doing the work for you. And given the wealth of information presented in such a digestible form, I'd say that's fighting ignorance indeed.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#56

Post by stcredzero »

Reminds me of a theory I came up with awhile ago. Why do little humans have such a strong propensity for sticking everything in their mouths? Well, way back when in the stone age, infant mortality was high. Mortality among the newborn is high for many species. As a result, low tech-level human communities don't invest in a little individual until they make it in the world for awhile. In fact, the little buggers haven't really had that many physical resources devoted to them. It takes a lot of food to make a baby. But that's peanuts to the resources invested in an adult over 2 decades of life. So who should be the food taster? Who should try things out to see if they're safe to eat? That's right, all those little ones!

It actually makes evolutionary sense for little humans to want to stick random things in their mouths and so become unwitting food tasters. It's better for the community, overall.

(Also, it puts pressure on mothers to be attentive! Another benefit to the community.)

Lots of female friends of mine absolutely hate this theory. I can understand why. But nature isn't always so nice.

(And yes, this theory is actually testable!)

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#57

Post by ghshephard »

billswift wrote: post #30
Tuna-Fish wrote: post #8

The simple rule I was taught that if you can find anything that moves, cook and eat it before eating unknown plants. Your odds are generally much better with animals than plants -- you can probably find dozens of examples of inedible or poisonous plants on your back yard alone, while poisonous (as opposed to venomous) animals whose poison is still dangerous after being cooked are quite rare. An even simpler rule is t…

A caution here is that some fish, especially in tropical areas, are poisonous. Any mammal or bird can be eaten, some reptiles are poisonous though - box turtles, for example, can retain poisons absorbed from their food.

"Any mammal or bird can be eaten"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venomous_mammals

...some birds are poisonous to eat or touch, such as the pitohui, the ifrita,

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#58

Post by Confusion »

stcredzero wrote: post #56

Reminds me of a theory I came up with awhile ago. Why do little humans have such a strong propensity for sticking everything in their mouths? Well, way back when in the stone age, infant mortality was high. Mortality among the newborn is high for many species. As a result, low tech-level human communities don't invest in a little individual until they make it in the world for awhile. In fact, the little buggers haven…

The theory may very well be true, but it isn't very helpful. Firstly, you probably won't have an infant around when you get to that deserted island and secondly, if you do, it's probably your own and you'd rather die yourself than watch your child die. Of course the latter is stupid, because the child will die if you die, but humans aren't rational beings.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#59

Post by Mz »

stcredzero wrote: post #56

Reminds me of a theory I came up with awhile ago. Why do little humans have such a strong propensity for sticking everything in their mouths? Well, way back when in the stone age, infant mortality was high. Mortality among the newborn is high for many species. As a result, low tech-level human communities don't invest in a little individual until they make it in the world for awhile. In fact, the little buggers haven…

My understanding is that babies stick things in their mouths because their other senses aren't well developed, so their tongue is the best "scanner" they have. They are just trying to learn about their world in spite of having poor vision, poor tactile information, etc.

Re: I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous?

#60

Post by Mz »

maxklein wrote: post #6

Okay, someone a bit more intelligent than me should correct me on this: Are most poisonous plants not bitter or foul tasting? Also, apart from mushrooms, don't they usually signal their poison? Why does a plant develop poison if not to discourage animals from eating it : and if it does not signal through taste or look, how would an animal know? I know nothing about this topic, I'm actually curious.

As I understand it, poisonous things are often orange. But, then, plenty of things that aren't poisonous are also orange. If you can mimic a poisonous thing and convince other things to not eat you, bonus! Producing poison is actually rather costly, so just being a scam artist is a cheaper way to survive. Of course, this only works if actual poisonous stuff outnumbers scam artist plants/critters. If the percentage relationship is reversed, the whole thing falls apart because other things conclude that "You're probably safe to eat, since most other things that look like you have proven to be safe".
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