Cicuta (Water Hemlock or Cowbane) is a small genus of four species of highly poisonousflowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, mainly North America.
The plant may be mistaken for parsnip due to its clusters of white tuberous roots, but is extremely poisonous and must not be eaten.
Cicuta virosa - Cowbane or Northern Water Hemlock.
Cicuta virosa (Cowbane or Northern Water Hemlock) is a species of Cicuta, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America.
This poison was administered as a method of capital punishment and certainly the Greek philosopher Socrates drank a cup of some kind of hemlock infusion at his execution in 399 BC.
Cicuta virosa is however primarily a northern European species, rare or absent from the Mediterranean region, making its use in Greece unlikely.
Cicuta, Latin for "hemlock, poison from the hemlock"
Distinguished from Spotted Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) and Water Parsnip (Sium suave) by its narrow, linear leaflets (less than ¼" wide), and its signature bulblets in the upper leaf axils.
Because it is often difficult to clearly distinguish similar members of the Carrot/Parsley family from one another, and because some are highly toxic, it is always best to excercise caution and due prudence in dealing with these plants.
Cicuta from the ancient Latin for poison hemlock and maculata from the Latin meaning "spotted or mottled", referring to the purple mottling of the stem.
Can be biennial or a short-lived perennial, very stout stem, can reach 7 feet tall.
However, in the literary world, epigrams were most often gifts to patrons or entertaining verse to be published, not inscriptions.
Many Roman writers seem to have composed epigrams, including Domitius Marsus, whose collection 'Cicuta' (now lost) was named after the poisonousplantCicuta for its biting wit, and Lucan, more famous for his epic Pharsalia.
Authors whose epigrams survive include Catullus, who wrote both invectives and love epigrams-- his poem 85 is one of the latter.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Epigram (907 words)
Amazon.com: Cicuta(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-15)
De don cicuta a la nueva ruperta.(transmision del programa de variedades Un, dos, tres): An article from: Epoca by Maria Corisco (Oct 10, 2003)
La cicuta y el perejil.(Islamismo)(TT: The hemlock and the parsley.)(TA: Islam)(Artículo Breve): An article from: Epoca by Antonio López Campillo (Jun 21, 2002)
Cicuta (water hemlock) as a poisonousplant (A) (A) by C. Dwight Marsh (Unknown Binding - Jan 1, 1917)
