Habitat:
Blooms:
Height:
Feature:
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Deep shade or semi-shade, where its dense growth
may shade out other woodland flowers .
March - April.
A metre per year.
Dog's mercury is highly poisonous.
Methylamine and trimethylamine
are thought to be present, together with a volatile oil and saponins.
Symptoms of poisoning appear within a few hours; they can include
vomiting, pain, gastric and kidney inflammation, and
sometimes inflammation of the cheeks and jaw and drowsiness. The
first-known account of this phenomenon probably dates from 1693, when a
family of five became seriously ill as a result of eating the plant
(after boiling and frying it); Sadly, one of the children died some
days later as a result
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