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Mezereon

Mezereon is entirely toxic and eating just a dozen berries can prove to be lethal to man.

 

One should know this plant. The species name mezereum in Persian means ”to kill”.

 

The mezereon grows scattered in all Estonia, preferring fertile and lime-rich soils, but also swamped habitats in undergrowths of mixed forests. It is a sparsely branched shrub with yellowish grey bark and can grow up to one and a half meters. Oblong lance-shaped leaves with whole edges are placed differently – on top of the shrub leaves are in bundles, while they are scattered on the stalk. If one is to break mezereon branches (for example, during early spring to put beautiful blossoming branches in a vaze) it should be known that the plant`s juice may cause a rash if it comes in contact with hands.

 

Beautiful, brightly coloured drupes (commonly known as berries) are attached close to the shoots and under the leaf bundle. The berries stand out in the wild.

 

Eating only a few berries already causes a serious poisoning.

The berries are said to have a disgusting taste.

 

And yet, berries disappear from mezereon shrubs. Birds eat them hungrily since mezereon berries are not poisonous for them. Seeds are expelled with excrements and that is how mezereon spreads.

Mezereon berries