This is a common name for the Arum Maculatum, another is Cuckoopint & I have lots of these berries in my garden. They are poisonous & I believe & if eaten irritate the mouth & throat ! I did dig them up a few years ago buy they have all returned & if we had lots of children coming in our garden I would take care to get rid of them again but they sort of creep back & as we have no small grand children coming to visit at this time of the year I haven't bothered. It's pouring with rain here so I just popped into the garden & these just took my eye ! The berries only appear in early autumn so I forget they are there.
I've never seen these before...they look like clusters of cherry tomatoes. It's a shame that they're so tenacious and hard to get rid of considering their toxicity. But it makes for a very interesting shot!
It's been a good year for these - I like to see them around but they've all 'gone over' down here before I got a shot. We went round the 'Poisoned garden' at Alnwick - that's a real eye opener!! LOADS of poisonous plants, especially the plant that grows all over in Spain by the road and will kill you if you get scratched by the branches - as the guide said, if a crash doesn't get you... She also said that people use the stems as BBQ skewers and then it's curtains!
@judithg Wow that's quite funny.. BBQ skewer I must remember that !! They are a splash of colour in the garden but I always feel guilty when I see them thinking I should be digging them up !!
Love this shot, we lived near a wood when I was growing up, my dad always made sure we new which plants were poisonous and I remember this being one of them. They are very jewel like so you can imagine children being attracted to them!
Love the colours in this and the perfect framing - great work! It is quite interesting that very few people actually die from our poisonous plants it is the chemicals in cleaning products and medicines that are far more likely to be the cause of death by poisoning. Mind you I would not be rushing to put these in a vase in the house either they are one of the more poisonous plants in the UK
This is a fascinating site on the subject: http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/
Haha - should send my husband over to give them some of his treatment!! A shame they are poisonous because they really are beautiful - love that colour.
This is a fascinating site on the subject: http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/