For modern residents of the metropolis, a walk through the forest is an incomparable relaxation and joy. Fresh air, the tart smell of foliage heated in the sun creates a special mood, returns energy and vitality.
And it’s also so interesting to arrange a “quiet hunt” for mushrooms and berries! With mushrooms, everything is more or less clear: we are regularly informed and reminded of dangerous species. But with berries is more difficult. They all seem harmless, and at first glance it is very difficult to distinguish poisonous berries. Therefore, very often in the summer you can read in the news about poisoning with compote from wild berries or about severe intestinal disorders after eating fresh ones.
Let's see what poisonous and inedible berries are in our strip.
Wolfberry (Daphne)
This is a low shrub that blooms with white or light pink flowers, similar to lilacs. Fruits appear directly on the stem, ripen in July. Outwardly, the wolfberry is very attractive: bright red, shiny, juicy. Children are drawn to try these beautiful fruits. This is not difficult, because the shrub is grown as an ornamental plant around houses, in city parks and gardens.
However, the wolf berry is completely poisonous - both the leaves, and the bark, and the fruits are dangerous, because they contain the toxic substance daphnin. If you touch the bark or rub the leaves, red itchy spots and blisters may appear on the skin. With more severe injuries, necrosis of certain areas of the skin occurs.
Wolfberry leads to severe food poisoning - for this it is enough to eat only a dozen fruits. There is a strong release of saliva, pain in the stomach, vomiting and cramps, high fever rises. The work of the intestines and kidneys is disturbed. Recovery, even with timely help, takes a long time.
Belladonna
This is a beautiful shrub with dark green leaves that blooms in single large violet or purple flowers. The fruits are black, slightly flattened, similar in size and shape to a small cherry. It tastes sweet and juicy.
Berries of belladonna take the first place in toxicity, because they contain three types of poison at once: atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine. Even a small number of fruits can result in a slow and painful death.
Snowberry
This is a decorative, extremely frost-resistant plant. It blooms all summer with pink elegant inflorescences, and in September-October it begins to bear fruit with white juicy balls with a diameter of about a centimeter. Berries decorate the shrub for a very long time - until the middle of winter.
The fruits of the snowman are very toxic and can be fatal.
Buckthorn (magpie berries)
This shrub blooms with small greenish-white flowers, in the place of which then small berries appear. Unripe fruits are light red, and ripe ones are black. Eating buckthorn berries is not fatal, but leads to severe enough nausea and vomiting.
Raven eye
Low bushes of this plant are found only in the forest, they can be confused with blueberries or blueberries. But to distinguish a poisonous plant is not difficult: the berry grows alone, in the middle of a four-leaf corolla it has a very unpleasant smell. One or two berries do not pose a great danger, but a larger amount can lead to vomiting and diarrhea.
Both buckthorn and the raven eye affect only the gastrointestinal tract. Such toxic, but non-fatal berries also include the well-known black elderberry and honeysuckle.
Adults, as a rule, are careful and do not try unfamiliar wild specimens. But children can be seduced by beautiful colorful fruits.
What to do if a child has time to try poisonous berries?
First, you need to induce vomiting as soon as possible. Before doing this, give your child a little weak potassium permanganate solution to oxidize toxic substances in the stomach.
After the stomach has been cleansed, it is necessary to water the child with a mixture of crushed activated carbon and water.
If possible, an enema should be given to empty the intestines.
If there is inflammation on the skin, wash the damaged areas with a solution of potassium permanganate.
After first aid, be sure to contact the hospital.