Wicked Plants

A sibling lent me this book called "Wicked Plants-The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities" by Amy Stewart. The plants are labeled at the top of the page as "deadly" or "dangerous" or "Illegal" or "intoxicating" or "painful" or "destructive" Wicked comes in many forms. I have some wicked plants in my yard. I have poison ivy and deadly nightshade and stinging nettle and ragweed. I used to have water hyacinth but I couldn't find any this year. I was mildly surprised water hyacinth was wicked because it costs $8 at my local garden center. But when I saw a lake infested with water hyacinth in Africa I can see why it is wicked. The hyacinth grows so quickly and so thickly the anglers cannot get their boats out to open water. So I guess water hyacinth, pretty as it is, could be considered wicked. The book is a quick and easy read. The illustrations are a little disturbing. Perhaps the artist was using some illegal wicked plants when drawing them? Plants can be as dangerous as animals if we're not careful. Just this week a friend was reminiscing about her primary school in St. Louis Park. Her mother was very upset with the landscaping plan. The school had a hedge of shrubs with poisonous berries lining both sides of the school entrance. My first reaction to that is some school authority had a Darwinian plan. Any student smart enough to get into the school without eating the berries was worth educating.