poisonous plant cicuta growing near coast forest river

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Poisonous plant cicuta growing near coast of a forest river.

Cicuta virosa, the cowbane or northern water hemlock, is a poisonous species of Cicuta. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which grows up to 1Ã¢â¬â2 m tall. The stems are smooth, branching, swollen at the base, purple-striped, and hollow except for partitions at the junction of the leaves and stem. In cross section the stems have one flat side and the other sides are rounded. The leaves are alternate, tripinnate, only coarsely toothed. The flowers are small, white and clustered in umbrella shaped inflorescences typical of the family. An oily, yellow liquid oozes from cuts to the stems and roots. This liquid has a rank smell resembling that of parsnips or carrots. The Greek philosopher Socrates drank a cup of some kind of hemlock infusion at his execution in 399 BC.