Camping can easily become one of your passions in life, drawing you back to nature time and again.
To keep it a great joy, before you set up your campsite and unroll your sleeping bags, become aware of which plants near where you plan to camp are poisonous to people or animals.
Some plants harmless to people are lethal to pets and vice versa.
Lethality is a survival trait for many plants and those plants need to be taken seriously.
As part of smart planning, call the local Poison Control Center where you plan to camp and learn of any local poisonous plants.
Local Poison Control Center numbers can be found at The American Association Of Poison Control Centers.
Then Google the poisonous plants in your camping area, learn how they poison (absorption, ingestion or inhalation) and print out pictures for your camping group.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY POISONOUS PLANTS INFORMATIONAL DATABASE offers an excellent on-line source for photos and details about poisonous plants.
Poisonous Plants That Could Be Near Your Campsite include: Angels Trumpet, Azalea (aka Rhododendron), Belladonna (aka Deadly Nightshade), Black Laurel, Black Locust, Boxwood, Bracken Fern, Burning Bush, Caley Pea, Carolina Jessamine, Castor Bean, Celandine, Chinaberry, Christmas Rose, Cocklebur, Common Nightshade (aka Black Nightshade, Horse Nettle and Buffalo Bur), Corn Cockle, Cowbane (aka Water Hemlock), Cowhage, Crown Vetch, Daphne, Day or Night Blooming Jasmine, Death Camus, Delphiniums, Dogbane, Eastern Skunk Cabbage, Elderberry, Ergot, Foxglove, Golden Chain (aka Laburnum), Great Lobelia, Hairy Vetch, Henbane, Horse Chestnut (aka Buckeye), Hydrangea, Irises, Jack in the Pulpit, Japanese Pieris, Lantana (aka Red or Yellow Sage), Lambs Quarters, Larkspur, Laurel, Lily of the Valley, Lucerne, Lupines, Manchineel tree, Mandrake (aka Mayapple), Marijuana, Mesquite, Monkshood (aka Aconite or Wolfsbane), Moonseed, Mushrooms (not all mushrooms are poisonous but many are and can kill quickly with no antidote), Oleander, Pangi , Poinsettia, Poison Ivy, Poison Hemlock, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, Pokeweed, Poppies, Privet, Rengas tree, Rhubarb, Rosemary Pea, Senecio (aka Groundsels and Ragworts), Star of Bethlehem , Stinging Nettle, Strychnine tree, Tree Tobacco , Trumpet Vine, Virginia creeper, White Snakeroot, Wisteria and Yew.
Learn How Poisonous Plants Poison: Knowing how different plants protect themselves with their poison will help you know how to avoid them.
Some plant poisons must be ingested (eating) while other plants deploy their poison through absorption (touching) or even inhalation (breathing).
Learn the Potential Symptoms of Poisoning: Changes to heartbeats and breathing, comas, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, hallucinations, itching, skin burning, reddening, swelling, and blistering, stomach cramps, headaches, nausea, unconsciousness and vomiting.
Never go camping without knowing how to contact emergency help immediately! If someone in your camping group exhibits these symptoms, call for medical help and be prepared to induce vomiting and dilute remaining poison with large amounts of milk or water until help can arrive.
No Easy Rules: There are no easy rules regarding poisonous plants -- so bring what you eat during your camping outing and avoid eating or chewing any part of wild plants (especially mushrooms) and avoid touching plants needlessly.
There are no easy rules because some parts of poison plants are poisonous while others may not be, some poisonous plants look similar to common and edible plants and some plants are poisonous during one part of their life-cycle but not others.
Never use unknown plants to fuel your campfire because the smoke from burning poisonous plants may be poisonous.
And remember -- what goes for you goes for your pet -- so keep them nearby, safe and happy! Happy Camping!