I heard it can be a problem with contact with the stems of parsnip as well as mentioned in this information page.
One plant that I only heard about toxicity more recently is the Sycamore with an effect on horses when the seed drop is heavy and the young saplings and seed are grazed. They're nice strong growing trees but just not an option around here. Also under orders not to plant yew for similar reasons of risk to potential grazers.
In the garden the only plant I have deliberately avoided for toxicity is any type of lily as I have cats. There are other plants I have to watch out for in the fields as I have horses but that's not really a garden problem (although they have been known to escape and run round the garden - not great for the lawn!). If I was very concerned in the garden I would always wear gloves - but sometimes I don't
Also under orders not to plant yew for similar reasons of risk to potential grazers.
Happy gardening!
It's fascinating the stories of why yew trees are grown in graveyards. I prefer the one about the trees being too toxic for grazing areas, yet their wood was in such high demand to splice with oak wood (yew's wood is bendy whilst the oak's is strong) to make powerful longbows, that a royal decree was published for yew trees to be planted in graveyards.
Some of these graveyard yew trees are thousands of years old, with their history 'rooted' in druidism. To please the population, the Christian Church embraced the Druid festival of Yule and worshiped it as Christmas.
@Hostafan1@Jenny_Aster That's interesting about the sheep - yew has definitely been reported to be toxic to ruminants. Lots of records of animals being found dead and upon inspection have ingested yew - it contains an alkaloid which affects the heart and basically can kill within minutes of symptoms showing. It's unpalatable though, so perhaps the Welsh mountain sheep never ate enough of it to do them harm.
Posts
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
Hogweed, Cow Parsnip, Heracleum sphodylium (wildfooduk.com)
Giant hogweed is a different plant
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
In the sticks near Peterborough
Some of these graveyard yew trees are thousands of years old, with their history 'rooted' in druidism. To please the population, the Christian Church embraced the Druid festival of Yule and worshiped it as Christmas.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.