POISONOUS BERRIES – Fly honeysuckle
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
We were surprised when medical people reported last week in media that in addition to poisonings from household chemicals there are numerous cases of poisoning from eating wild berries. This autumn we will introduce the toxic or partly toxic wild berries in the order of their ripening. You will find them all under one heading, POISONOUS BERRIES, in the left-hand column or at the end of a new article.
Fly honeysuckle
Fly honeysuckle Harilik kuslapuu Lonicera xylosteum
Blue-berried honeysuckle; Sweetberry honeysuckle; Bearberry Sinine kuslapuu Lonicera caerulea
The fly honeysuckle berries are DANGEROUSLY POISONOUS.
The danger is signalled by the fact that nobody has picked the beautiful, seemingly quite tempting glossy, redcurrant-red berries, joined two by two (a good identification sign).
Fly honeysuckle grows in the forest undergrowth in all Estonia. A large shrub may be 2-3 meters high. Undemanding, with pale grey, flaky bark, it may grow into almost impenetrable thickets. The oval leaves are placed oppositely and while they were greyish and velvety in spring, now they feel slightly rough between the fingers.
Eating a couple of the beautiful but badly-tasting berries causes diarrhoea.
Slightly larger quantities may already cause dangerous health problems.
Signs of poisoning include: vomiting, bloody stools, facial flushing with a feeling of pressure in the head, irregular pulse, cold sweat on the body.
The description is given not to scare you. In case of suspected poisoning the nearest medical facility should be contacted as fast as possible.
The berries of the blue-berried honeysuckle are slightly poisonous.
It grows in the forest undergrowth in North, North-west and West Estonia. The bark of the about one and a half metre high shrub peels, the leaves are oval but blunt-tipped. The berries blue, reminding a little of bog bilberries and covered with a wax ”frost”. Click on the Latin name and you will find the Google images.
In plant shops plants of the cultivated edible honeysuckle, bearberry honeysuckle or honeyberry are sold /Lonicera caerulea var. edulis /. Only the berries of this honeysuckle are edible.
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