If you like to eat wild vegetables, then you have to know which ones are inedible.
1. Gelsemium elegans. About 0.5-1 foot tall, with a light yellow root, which is the most toxic part and has a sweet taste. The leaves are linear, and the flowers are yellow or white, some are purplish-red. After accidental ingestion, symptoms such as vomiting, heartburn, and persistent abdominal pain may occur, and in severe cases, it can lead to death.
2. Water Hemlock. Also known as wild celery, Anemone dichotoma, or toxic ginseng. It grows in damp places, the leaves are somewhat similar to celery leaves, and it blooms with umbel flowers in summer. The whole plant has a foul smell, and the flowers are the most toxic. After consumption, symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, cold hands and feet, and limb paralysis may occur, and in severe cases, it can lead to death.
3. Xanthium sibiricum. Also known as er ke, it grows in fields, roadsides, and lowlands. Small seedlings appear in March and April, which look like soybean sprouts, and in sunny places, they also look like sunflower seedlings. When mature, it becomes thick and large, with heart-shaped leaves and sawtooth edges, and produces seeds with hard spines in autumn. The whole plant is toxic, with the highest toxicity in the young shoots and seeds. Consumption can lead to death.
4. Datura stramonium. The scientific name for the large trumpet flower, it often grows wild in fields, ditches, roadsides, riverbanks, hillsides, etc. Although its leaves, flowers, and seeds can be used for medicine, the whole plant is highly toxic, with the seeds being the most toxic. Generally, about 2 hours after ingestion, symptoms such as dry mouth and throat, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness, rapid pulse, dilated pupils, and convulsions may occur. In severe cases, coma and respiratory failure can lead to death.
5. Rehmannia glutinosa. Also known as pig mom or old man drinking. It blooms with purplish-red flowers in spring, some with yellow, and the flower shape is like a lip-shaped sesame flower. The leaves are yellow, hairy, and bitter. Accidental consumption can cause vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and coma.
There are also other wild vegetables such as wild garlic, qu cai niang zi, and lao gong yin that are highly toxic and should not be eaten.