Water dropwort

Water dropwort
Oenanthe aquatica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Apiaceae
Genus:	Oenanthe
Species
O. aquatica - Fine-leafed water dropwort O. crocata - Hemlock water dropwort O. fistulosa - Tubular water dropwort O. fluviatilis - River water dropwort O. javanica - Java water dropwort O. javanica ssp. javanica - Java water dropwort O. javanica ssp. stolonifera - Stolon water dropwort O. lachenalii - Parsley water dropwort O. laciniata - Cutleaf water dropwort O. peucidanifolia O. pimpinelloides - Corky-fruited water dropwort O. sarmentosa - Water parsley O. silaifolia - Narrow-leafed water dropwort

The water dropworts, Oenanthe (pronounced /ˌɔɪˈnanθɨ/), are a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae. Most of the species grow in damp ground, in marshes or in water.

Several of the species are extremely poisonous, the active poison being oenanthotoxin. The most notable of these is O. crocata, which lives in damp, marshy ground, and resembles celery with roots like a bunch of large white carrots. The leaves may be eaten safely by livestock, but the stems, and especially the carbohydrate-rich roots are much more poisonous. Animals familiar with eating the leaves may eat the roots when these are exposed during ditch clearance – one root is sufficient to kill a cow, and human fatalities are also known in these circumstances.^{[citation needed]}

The species O. javanica, commonly known as Chinese celery or Japanese parsley (seri; not to be confused with mitsuba or Japanese wild celery, a plant from a different genus) is edible and grown in several countries of eastern Asia, as well as in Italy and India, where the spring growth is relished as a vegetable.

Corky-fruited water dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides)

Hemlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) in spring.

Names

"Oenanthe" is derived from the Greek oinos "wine" and anthos "flower", from the wine-like scent of the flowers.^[1]

The name "water dropwort" comes from the close resemblance of some of the smaller species (which mainly grow in wet ground) to dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris) (Rosaceae), an unrelated plant of dry grassland.

Sardonic grin

Scientists at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin.^[2][3] This plant is the most-likely candidate for the "sardonic herb," which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in Phoenician Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death.^[4]

References

External links

• Media related to Water dropwort at Wikimedia Commons
• Poisoning with O. Crocata Emerg Med J 2002; 19:472-473 (Free registration required)
• article National Geographic: poisoning in history of Italy