Why is it important to correctly identify a plant or fungus?
The name of a plant or fungus is the key to finding out just how poisonous it is. However, the identification of poisonous plants and fungi can be difficult: different plants or fungi can look similar to each other; some species are very variable in appearance; and plants which are easily recognised when in flower are not so identifiable at other times of the year. In addition to this, communication of plant names can be misleading as common names are not used consistently, for example: The name “deadly nightshade” has been adopted for a number of different plants including the traditional deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna. In a recent survey of suspected plant poisoning cases, 10 cases were attributed to “deadly nightshade” by the hospitals involved. However, when Kew specialists identified specimens they determined that five of these cases had actually involved Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) and two specimens were of Solanum dulcamara (woody nightshade). The toxins in both thes
