CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -Poison hemlock, a Class B noxious weed, is a widespread toxic biennial plant in the Carrot Family often found in open sunny areas, fields, vacant lots, and on roadsides. Eating even a small amount of any part of this plant can kill people, livestock, and wildlife.

Detailed explanation-2: -Knowing how to identify and avoid poison hemlock – an extremely toxic plant with beautiful white flowers found in just about every state in the U.S. – can protect you and your animal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Even small amounts can harm mammals. Ingestion is “frequently fatal, ” the USDA says.

Detailed explanation-3: -Historically, poison hemlock was used as medicine (to treat muscle spasms and cause sedation as well as being applied to tumors), but it is most famously known as the method of death chosen by Socrates in 399 BCE. People usually do not eat it intentionally, but rather it is often misidentified as something edible.

Detailed explanation-4: -Hemlock contains conhydrine, N-methylconine, but its most poisonous alkaloid is coniine, which has a chemical structure similar to nicotine. This poison disrupts the central nervous system-a small dose can cause respiratory collapse. Death can result from blockage of the neuromuscular junction caused by coniine.

Detailed explanation-5: -Although cicutoxin is present in all parts of the water hemlock plant, the root contains the highest concentration. Ingestion of a 2-3-cm portion of the root can be fatal in adults (6), and use of toy whistles made from the water hemlock stem has been associated with deaths in children (7).