Poison Hemlock, Beautiful but deadly in bloom across the U.S. 

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Poison hemlock looks like a harmless flower, but it is deadly. This was the poison used in ancient Greece for executions. One of the most famous executions was of Socrates.

The Texas A&M AgiLife Extension Service advises that the stem and leaves are the most poisonous part of the plants.

Kinzie Kizer picked some of those deadly flowers near Dallas and, it almost killed her. She described her experience in a Facebook post.

“Shortly after pulling the weeds, my arms felt as if they were on fire. So, I took a shower to wash out what I believed to be splinters. Less than an hour later, my tongue started swelling, my skin burned, my speech slurred, and I was dizzy, confused, and very shaky.” 

“It started to feel as though my chest was tightening and I was struggling to breathe. I went to the ER where it was confirmed I had been poisoned by Poisonous Hemlock.”

North American Invasion

Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), once limited to Europe and Western Asia, has stealthily infiltrated nearly every state in North America.