Wolfberry has been known to almost everyone since childhood, especially those who grew up or often visited the countryside. Wolf's eye or wolfberry externally resembles currants - the fruits are small in size, round in shape. The berries themselves are red or black, depending on the type of plant. There is a huge buzz around right now healthy berries goji, which is used for a variety of purposes - treatment, weight loss, strengthening the immune system. Wolfberry and goji have nothing in common, they are confused due to similar names - wolfberry (goji), a shrub native to China, in our country it is known as “common wolfberry”, so it should not be confused with wolfberry.

Wolfberry - what is it?

Why is wolfberry called that? Everything is very simple, the name does not come from the fact that wolves or other forest animals feed on this bush. It’s just that the name comes from old times, when the designation “wolf” meant everything evil, dangerous and harmful. Thus, everyone has known about the dangers of these berries for a very long time.

The name wolfberry can refer to several plants at once - privet, raven's eye, brittle buckthorn, crowberry, elderberry. The list could go on for a long time, but still, the term “wolfberry” most often means a poisonous shrub, popularly called privet, wolfberry or wolfberry.

Wolfberry grows everywhere, found in the forests of America, as well as throughout Europe. Very common in middle lane Russia, the Caucasus and Siberia. What does wolfberry look like? Its description and properties can be found in any school biology textbook. The bush blooms very beautifully, the smell is intoxicating. By the way, blackbirds love to feast on these berries. It is this bird that is the main distributor of seeds.

Privet is a small shrub on which round and small berries ripen. The shrub blooms very profusely and beautifully in spring, thanks to its small sizes(up to 5 m) is successfully used in landscape design. By autumn, the fruits ripen, and this is where many people make a mistake - they begin to collect them and use them for food, prepare teas and infusions. This is absolutely impossible to do, because the berries are poisonous and can cause not only poisoning, but also be fatal. Therefore, if you are interested in the question - is it possible to eat wolfberries - the answer is categorical - no!

Why are berries dangerous?

What happens if you eat wolfberry? Almost 100% you can get poisoning and stomach upset, but everything, of course, will depend on the amount. The fact is that the fruits contain solanine - a strong poison, which provokes poisoning. If first aid is not provided in a timely manner and an ambulance is not called, then death will be inevitable. About five berries can cause death.

Not only the fruits themselves are poisonous, but also the entire bush as a whole - branches, leaves. Thus, it is better not to touch the plant at all, but only admire it from afar.

The berries and bark contain a number of substances that cause poisoning. The main components are meserein, dafnetin, dafnin glycoside, coumarin. In almost all cases, poisoning does not go away without a trace; even after treatment, complications of various kinds may arise, so it is very important to take all measures in a timely manner.

Wolf's bast berry causes severe poisoning; if you make a mistake and eat it, the symptoms will be as follows:

• feeling of a burn in the mouth and entire mucous membrane;
• nausea, vomiting;
• profuse drooling, difficulty swallowing may occur;
• diarrhea;
• inflammation of the eyes, lacrimation;
• convulsions and general weakness are possible.

Wolfberry poisoning is severe, the degree will depend on the amount of fruit consumed. In its course, such poisoning has the appearance of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis; death occurs mainly due to cardiac arrest.

If the plant juice comes into contact with the skin, a burn or redness may occur. With prolonged contact with the skin, the development of tumor-like destruction on the epidermis is quite possible. Even being near a flowering plant is dangerous - inhaling pollen irritates the mucous membrane.

What to do if you are poisoned by wolfberry

If a child or adult has eaten wolfberry, you must immediately call ambulance and take first aid measures. First of all, it is necessary to remove the source of poisoning from the body, that is, induce vomiting. A weak solution of potassium permanganate is suitable for this (the liquid should be light pink, not deep purple!). Can be given to the victim Activated carbon or any other sorbent. If possible, give the victim a cleansing enema.

Berry poisoning can cause seizures and cardiac arrest. If there are heart medications in the medicine cabinet, it is necessary to give them to the patient, following the recommendations and the correct dosage. After providing first aid, it is necessary to force the person to lie down, take a calm position and wait for the ambulance to arrive. In almost all cases, hospitalization and further inpatient treatment follow.

The entire wolfberry bush is poisonous, therefore, if the juice gets on your skin or if the plant simply scratches you, you need to wash the area with an antiseptic solution; if you don’t have anything at hand, potassium permanganate will do.

The dangers of eating privet should be clear to everyone; it is especially important to convey this information to children. If you are planning a trip to the forest or live in a rural area, do not forget to tell your children about all the dangers that attractive and tasty-looking berries pose. In addition to privet, there are many other plants, touching which can already have unpleasant consequences.

Beneficial features

Many poisonous plants have and beneficial features, but you need to know how to use them correctly, otherwise it is very dangerous to life and can lead to unpredictable consequences.

Privet has long been used in conventional and folk medicine to treat a variety of diseases:

• of cardio-vascular system;
• kidneys and liver;
• neuroses and mental disorders;
• eye;
• joints.

Due to their toxicity, bush products in official medicine are not used, but are used exclusively in homeopathy. People use tinctures and decoctions from this plant to treat bronchitis, pneumonia, and colds. Privet has proven itself very well in folk medicine for the treatment of skin diseases.

Prepared tinctures and decoctions are never used internally; they are used for rubbing, rinsing, and lotions.

Plants are harvested in the summer - branches, leaves are collected, roots are dug up. In autumn you can harvest the fruits of the bush.

It is worth remembering that If any disease occurs, self-medication can be dangerous, especially if you prepare homemade tinctures and poisons from toxic plants. Remember that the plant contains a dangerous and toxic substance, which even in small doses leads to heart failure, cardiac arrest and death.

Use in everyday life

Privet has proven itself well as a poison for agricultural needs. With its help, infusions are prepared against Colorado potato beetles and other pests.. This poison is only suitable for root crops; spray it on other plants and fruit trees It is highly not recommended, especially immediately before collection. It is best to spray in the spring, when leaves are just beginning to form and there is no flowering or fruiting. The use of such poison on summer cottage can be compared with using simple chemicals, therefore it is also necessary to exercise caution and use a mask and rubber gloves when spraying.

Previously, black privet berries were used to make ink. Wolfberry can often be found on suburban areas and in urban environments as a hedge. The bush is quite dense, with beautiful leaves And lush flowering. It is drought-resistant and easy to care for. With proper circumcision, you can get a beautiful and perfect hedge up to 5 meters high. Now several varieties of common privet have been artificially bred specifically for hedges. They may differ from each other in color (during flowering), height, and care characteristics. In most cases no special care not required - timely watering and pruning.

Thanks to the Internet and the dissemination of information about the miraculous goji berries, many people have already encountered an unpleasant situation - the mistake of collecting wolfberry instead of wolfberry. Remember that real goji berries grow exclusively in the provinces of China. Some gardeners even grow these shrubs at home, but this is a long and labor-intensive process. Wolf bush in wild conditions Also found quite rarely, in our territories it is still the dangerous and poisonous privet that is most often found, the use of which can lead to death.

Pay attention to others dangerous bushes, which according to appearance leaves and berries may be similar to wolfberry - red crow, red elderberry, snowberry, crow's eye, brittle buckthorn. When eating all the berries from such bushes, 100% poisoning occurs. Symptoms are common - vomiting, diarrhea, nausea. It is necessary to provide timely first aid and send the victim to the hospital.

Botanical characteristics

Common wolfberry, translated as Daphne mezereum, the plant also has a number of other names, for example, wolf's bast, wolf's pepper, wolf's berries. Its height is no more than a meter, but sometimes it can reach 200 centimeters. This shrub is covered with yellow-gray bark, which is somewhat wrinkled.

The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, green above and slightly bluish below, they are narrowed into a rather short petiole closer to the base, alternate, crowded at the ends of the branches. The flowers are pink, sessile, fragrant, their scent is a bit like hyacinth, with a nail-shaped corolla.

Three flowers are located in the axils of the leaves, which remained from last year. Characteristic feature This shrub is distinguished by the fact that it begins to bloom even before the first leaves appear.

As for the fruits, they are light red berries that are ovoid, somewhat elongated shape, which makes them recognizable, and this is important, since they are very poisonous, and under no circumstances should you eat them!

Spreading

The wolf's bast shrub is widespread in the European part of our country, in Siberia, and the Caucasus. It prefers to be localized in shady areas, and the soil should be fertile and well fertilized. You can see it on forest edges.

Part used

WITH therapeutic purpose The flowering branches of the common wolfberry are used, as well as the bark. These parts of the plant contain coumarins, moserein, glycosides, daphnin, gum, resins, dyes, and wax.

Collection and preparation

It is customary to harvest bark in early spring before the wolf's bast begins to bloom. Since the plant is extremely poisonous, it is necessary to collect raw materials only with rubber gloves, and after work you should thoroughly wash your hands with soap so as not to accidentally introduce toxic substances into the oral cavity.

The collected raw materials should be cut into smaller pieces and placed in an automated drying chamber, which maintains optimal temperature regime, V in this case it should not exceed fifty degrees.

When the raw materials are completely dry, they should be packaged in cloth bags, which should be made from natural materials. It is recommended to place them in a ventilated area. The shelf life should not exceed three years, since after this time the bark will exhaust its properties. medicinal properties and will become unusable.

Wolf berries - application:

Let me remind you once again, dear reader, that the plant is very poisonous! However, in past times, the poisonous wolfberry was used as a laxative; poultices were prepared from its bark, which were used to treat abscesses and boils.

In homeopathy, wolfberry berries have found their use, of course, these drugs should be used on the recommendation of a doctor, for example, there is a remedy such as Mezereum, it is produced from the fresh bark of the wolfberry, and is prescribed for dermatological diseases, for example, eczema, dermatitis, trophic ulcers, itchy rashes and herpes zoster.

Warning

If the juice of the plant in concentrated form gets on the skin, this can lead to severe burns, which can even cause tissue necrosis. Therefore, if a similar situation accidentally occurs, you should immediately wash the causative area with a 2% manganese solution.

The first signs of berry poisoning will be expressed by the following symptoms: an unbearable burning sensation in the oral cavity, pain in the epigastric region, dyspepsia, which will manifest itself as nausea and subsequent vomiting, as well as possible disorders of the nervous system in the form of convulsions.

In this case, you should immediately call an ambulance, and while it is on its way, you need to rinse your stomach repeatedly, drink about twenty tablets of activated charcoal, and wait for medical personnel to arrive. Remember, it only takes a person to consume just a couple of wolf bast berries, and this can lead to death from cardiac arrest, so be very careful!

Recipes

Preparation of the decoction. You will need twenty grams of bark, which should first be crushed and poured with boiling water. After which the container should be placed on the stove and evaporated until exactly half of the liquid remains. You should take one drop three times a day, after dissolving it in a small amount of boiled water.

Preparation of tincture. Take one gram of bark per sixty milliliters of alcohol or vodka, and place the container in a dark place for one week, the drug should be shaken daily, then filtered, and taken a drop diluted in water three times a day.

Preparation of ointment. You will need five milliliters of tincture, which must be mixed with ten grams of butter. The resulting mixture can be used to treat joints with arthritis, as it will have a slight analgesic effect. The drug should only be stored in the refrigerator.

Conclusion

Remember, the poisonous wolfberry plant is quite dangerous, so exercise extreme caution when collecting and using it, and it is advisable to consult a doctor to clarify the dose of the drugs you are taking.

For modern residents of the metropolis, a walk through the forest is an incomparable relaxation and joy. Fresh air, the tart smell of foliage heated in the sun creates a special mood, restores energy and vitality.

It’s also so interesting to organize a “silent hunt” for mushrooms and berries! With mushrooms everything is more or less clear: we are regularly informed and reminded about dangerous species. But with berries it’s more difficult. They all seem harmless, and at first glance it is very difficult to distinguish poisonous berries. Therefore, very often in the summer you can read in the news about poisoning with compote from or about severe intestinal disorders after eating fresh ones.

Let's figure out what poisonous and inedible berries are in our strip.

Wolfberry (wolfberry)

This is a low shrub that blooms with white or light pink flowers, similar to lilacs. The fruits appear directly on the stem and ripen in July. Externally, wolfberry is very attractive: bright red, shiny, juicy. Children are eager to try these beautiful fruits. This is not difficult, because the bush is grown as ornamental plant around houses, in city parks and gardens.

However, the entire wolfberry is poisonous - the leaves, bark, and fruits are dangerous because they contain the toxic substance daphnin. Touching the bark or rubbing the leaves may cause red, itchy spots and blisters on the skin. With more severe injuries, necrosis of individual areas of the skin occurs.

Wolfberry also leads to severe food poisoning - for this it is enough to eat only a dozen fruits. There is a strong secretion of saliva, stomach pain, vomiting and cramps, rising heat. The functioning of the intestines and kidneys is disrupted. Recovery, even with timely help, takes a long time.

Belladonna

This beautiful bush with dark green leaves that blooms with single large violet or purple flowers. The fruits are black, slightly flattened, similar in size and shape to small cherries. The taste is sweet and juicy.

Belladonna berries take first place in toxicity, since they contain three types of poison: atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine. Not even a large number of fetuses can result in a slow and painful death.

Snowberry

This is an ornamental, extremely frost-resistant plant. It blooms all summer with pink elegant inflorescences, and in September-October it begins to bear fruit with white juicy balls about a centimeter in diameter. The berries decorate the bush for a very long time - until mid-winter.

Snowberry fruits are very poisonous and can be fatal.

Krushinnik (magpie berries)

This shrub blooms with small greenish-white flowers, in place of which small berries then appear. Unripe fruits are light red, while ripe ones are black. Eating buckthorn berries is not fatal, but it does lead to fairly severe nausea and vomiting.

Crow's eye

Low bushes of this plant are found only in the forest; they can be confused with blueberries or blueberries. But it is not difficult to distinguish: the berry grows singly, in the middle of the four-leaf corolla it has a very unpleasant smell. One or two berries do not pose a great danger, but more can lead to vomiting and diarrhea.

Both crushin and affect only the gastrointestinal tract. Such toxic but non-lethal berries also include the well-known honeysuckle.

Adults, as a rule, are careful and do not try unfamiliar wild specimens. But children can be tempted by the beautiful colorful fruits.

What to do if a child manages to try poisonous berries?

First, you need to induce vomiting as quickly as possible. Before this, give the child a little weak drink to oxidize the stomach.

After the stomach has been cleared, it is necessary to give the child a mixture of crushed activated carbon and water.

If possible, you should do an enema to cleanse your intestines.

If there is inflammation on the skin, wash the damaged areas with a solution of potassium permanganate.

After providing first aid, be sure to go to the hospital.

Why is wolfberry a poisonous plant? What does it look like and what poison does it contain? How to prevent poisoning and how to provide first aid if this happens? My daughter, who is going on a camping trip with her class, has so many questions. So let’s sort it out in order and look for answers, for the safety of children and the peace of mind of parents. In addition, we will also tell you about urgent measures in case of poisoning and the complicated consequences of inaction.

Wolf berries are very poisonous!

What is wolfberry?

The people called “wolf berry” several fruit bushes or plants with inedible berries of various bright colors. They, of course, have nothing to do with the wolf, but were called that because the harm and toxicity of these berries was associated with this animal. Fortunately, they are not seen so often in the forest, but it is still necessary to warn, especially children. Although they look appetizing, they are also very dangerous to eat. Wolf poisonous plants that can cause poisoning include:

• belladonna,
• wolfberry,
• nightshade,
• honeysuckle,
• girl's grapes,
• wolfberry or wolf's bast,
• raven eye,
• calligraphy,
• snowberry,
• May lily of the valley.

When walking in the forest, pay attention that these berries and herbs do not end up in your basket. Only if this is not the purpose of collection for medicinal purposes. Due to their toxic properties, they are not officially manufactured in the production of medicinal products, but they are widely used in homeopathic remedies in the treatment of diseases of the skin, liver, problems with the heart, eyes, joints, gastrointestinal tract, nervous system, urinary tract and immune systems.

It is very dangerous to self-medicate; you must first consult a doctor about taking medications that have contraindications. Your therapist will be able to advise you on a safe dosage and method of use for health benefits.

By the way, it's interesting that wolfberry and honeysuckle bushes are not considered poisonous plants. Tea is prepared from wolfberry berries to strengthen the immune system and prevent colds. Honeysuckle is used in landscape design as a hedge. Juice squeezed from other poisonous berries serves as poison for pests. In this case, it is necessary to observe the rules of personal hygiene and always wear gloves.

Why is wolfberry a poisonous plant?

This effect is exerted by the potent substance found in the berry - solanine. However, not only the berry, but all other parts of the bush are also dangerous. When the skin comes into contact with the wet bark of the bush, a feeling of pain and redness appears in this place. The sap, when squeezed from the bush, causes a burn with blisters and ulcers on the skin. Eating fruits in general can cause death due to cardiac arrest, depending on the amount eaten.

What does she look like?

Wolfberry is very poisonous!

What does the poisonous plant closest in name look like - wolfberry (wolf's bast)? Its description resembles a currant bush, only it grows in the forest. The berries are darker in color purple, although there are also ones with red berries. The difference is also glossy surface fruits Moreover, he is famous interesting fact flowering before leaves appear.

In general, it is a maximum height of 150 cm, a small bush, having a gray stem bark with oblong and hard or smooth leaves. It blooms with beautiful tubular buds with four petals. The range of colors is white or pink, even red. Wolfberries are ready in the fall, oval in shape, reminiscent of barberry berries.

Wolfberry poisoning

Wolfberry is a poisonous plant and accidental consumption of its fruits is very dangerous. It's even harmful flowering plant– irritation of the respiratory mucosa.

Symptoms of poisoning are the appearance of:

• general weakness of the body;
• dizziness and loss of coordination;
• excessive salivation and problems with swallowing;
• a burn is felt in the mouth or throat; intestinal pain accompanied by gag reflexes and bleeding;
• gastrointestinal disorder;
• eye irritation or conjunctivitis;
• convulsion and fainting.

If you notice this condition immediately it is necessary to transport the person to the nearest hospital rather than self-medicate. This condition is dangerous to human health and inaction can lead to death. In the forest, it is difficult to be on time, orientate and act, but it is necessary.

First aid for poisoning

If possible, of course, call the rescue service, describing your location as accurately as possible.

Wolfberry is a poisonous plant, so even if you get a scratch from it, you need to wash the wound with an antiseptic.

It is necessary to call doctors in case of poisoning

If you are poisoned by fruits, before help arrives, induce vomiting, it would be good to rinse the stomach with a 2% solution of potassium permanganate, give plenty of fluids and several tablets of activated carbon per body weight. If possible, give an enema or a laxative.

The poison spreads throughout the body very quickly and affects all body systems. The patient must be laid down and by appropriate means warm up while waiting for help. When convulsions occur, give milk, starch solution or chlorine hydrate to drink. To help the heart and avoid shock, you can give any remedy, following the dosage according to the instructions.

You should put all this in your first aid kit with you in advance, in addition to food and water supplies. It wouldn’t hurt to check that your phone is charged, as well as the comfort of your shoes and clothes.

If there are several people on a hike and the road is precisely known, then the patient can be taken closer to the exit from the forest so that the ambulance can quickly take qualified measures from doctors.

Consequences for the body

In any case, wolfberry is a poisonous plant and poisoning will not pass without consequences and various complications, especially if you do not act, then, as a result, depending on the volume of fruit eaten, death is possible due to cardiac arrest. In almost every case, upon the arrival of qualified assistance from specialists, the patient is hospitalized and further treated in a hospital.

To avoid cases of wolfberry poisoning, you need to talk about them when going to the forest to pick mushrooms or berries, especially to children, so that they do not end up in trouble or know exactly how to act!

Video

What does wolfberry look like?

As children, we often heard the phrase “wolf berry” when our parents warned us about the danger of poisoning from those beautiful berries that we encountered in a clearing in the forest. What are these “bad berries” and why are they called that?

It turns out that there are quite a lot of plants with poisonous berries in nature and they are all called wolf plants, in honor of such a predatory and death-bringing animal as the wolf. The fruits of the following plants are popularly called wolfberries:

• Privet, also known as wolfberry or wolf's bast
• Buckthorn brittle
• Voronets
• Elder
• Honeysuckle
• Boxthorn
• Whitewing
• Snowberry
• Maiden grapes

And this is not the entire list of poisonous plants.

Plants of the genus Privet are shrubs or small trees, are evergreen or semi-evergreen, and belong to the olive family. This is a poisonous plant, the fruits of which are popularly called “wolf berry”. It poses a danger to humans because it contains the substance solanine, which causes poisoning if it enters the stomach and even the skin. However, the shrub is a great success among gardeners. Its plantings are often used as hedges.

Description and types of common privet

This shrub is deciduous and grows well in shaded areas, usually in oak undergrowth, often reaching a height of 5 meters. The leaves are leathery, oblong, sometimes lanceolate, dark with outside, and light with reverse side. The flowers are small, white, collected in inflorescences in the form of panicles about 6 cm long, the smell is sweet and intoxicating. It blooms for about 20 days, from June to mid-July. The fruits on the branches last until winter, since privet is a winter-hardy plant. Wolfberries are usually black in color with several seeds inside. In general, the shrub resembles lilac in appearance, but does not bloom as profusely and beautifully.

In nature, there are 10 varieties of common privet:

1. pyramidal
2. weeping
3. golden
4. evergreen
5. yellowish
6. yellow-fruited
7. silver-variegated
8. gray
9. golden
10. glaucous - white-edged

Distribution area and breeding methods

Common privet grows in the Caucasus, southern Ukraine, northern Moldova, northern Africa, Asia Minor, middle and southern Europe. The privet bush begins to produce berries only in the seventh year of life. Therefore, to obtain seeds, it is cultivated on an industrial scale. However, growing shrubs from seeds is a long and labor-intensive process. In gardening, the propagation method is often used using cuttings, layering or root suckers.

Wolf berries - benefit or harm?

Privet has proven itself well as a means to destroy various agricultural pests. Infusions are prepared from the berries to combat Colorado potato beetles and other garden insects. Since the infusion is poisonous, when spraying it it is necessary to observe appropriate safety measures and produce it in the early stages of plant development, before the fruits are yet ripe.

In the old days, ordinary writing ink was produced from the black fruits of the privet. Currently, the bush is used as a living fence in gardens and vegetable gardens.

Like many other poisonous plants, wolfberry is used in recipes. traditional medicine, especially in homeopathy, observing the correct dosage. Preparations based on various extracts from various parts of this plant are used to treat the following diseases and disorders:

• Diseases of the heart and blood vessels
• Kidney and liver diseases
• Nervous conditions and mental disorders
• Joint diseases
• Eye diseases
• Viral diseases
• Low immunity
• Noise in ears
• Early graying of hair

Traditional medicine also uses tinctures of various parts of this plant to treat diseases of the respiratory system, colds, and skin ailments.

Important! To avoid poisoning, self-medication with this plant is strictly prohibited!

What danger do wolf berries pose?

Since not only the berries, but all parts of the plant contain the poison solanine, this shrub must be handled with extreme caution. It is necessary to remember and warn children that privet is poisonous. Eating just 5 berries causes certain death. The shiny privet is especially poisonous. If you accidentally poison yourself with wolfberries, you must urgently take appropriate measures to cleanse your stomach and call an ambulance.

Symptoms of poisoning

• Severe burning sensation in the mouth
• Gagging
• Difficulty swallowing
• Stomach upset
• Stinging in the eyes and tearing
• Muscle cramps and general weakness

When a plant blooms, you should not lean close to it and inhale the aroma. If plant pollen enters the body when inhaled, this will also cause certain health problems in the form of irritation of the mucous membranes. If the plant juice gets on the skin, it can cause burns, ulcers and painful swelling.

What to do in case of poisoning

If someone unknowingly ate poisonous berry privet, then first of all you need to call an ambulance and then perform the following actions with the poisoned person:

1. Induce vomiting and give the patient a large amount of water with a weak solution of potassium permanganate to drink.
2. Give the patient activated carbon at the rate of 1 tablet per kilogram of weight.
3. If possible, give the victim a cleansing enema.
4. Convulsions and cardiac arrest are possible, so it is advisable to give the patient heart medications according to the instructions for use.
5. After the procedures have been completed, place the person in a calm, horizontal position and wait for an ambulance.
6. If the plant juice gets on your skin, you must immediately wash the affected area with any disinfectant or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Usually in all cases the victim is hospitalized and treated in a hospital.

So, the privet plant can be both useful and extremely dangerous for humans. When contacting it, it is necessary to comply with safety rules, and a mandatory warning about it poisonous properties, both children and adults. Be attentive to the plants around you!