the.com/hemlock
the plant that killed Socrates and still hides in your neighbor's pretty roadside flowers.
means A tall, poisonous plant of the carrot family with lacy white flowers and feathery leaves, deadly if eaten; the name also refers to a wholly unrelated North American evergreen conifer.
from From Old English 'hemlic' (also 'hymlice'), a name for the poisonous plant whose deeper roots are obscure — nobody is sure what the parts originally meant. The conifer borrowed the name much later, apparently because its crushed needles give off a smell reminiscent of the poison weed. So one word ends up covering both the killer of philosophers and a harmless forest tree, joined only by a faint shared scent.
- socrates' exit
- His state-mandated death drink in 399 BC.
- creeping paralysis
- Numbness climbs upward until breathing stops.
- carrot cousin
- Looks like wild parsley or Queen Anne's lace.
- mouse warning
- Its crushed leaves reek of mouse urine.
- alkaloid weapon
- Coniine disrupts the body's nerve-to-muscle signals.
hemlock tree — eastern hemlock (tsuga canadensis), a conifer native to north america commonly found in northeastern forests
socrates execution — ancient greek philosopher executed by drinking hemlock poison in athens in 399 bce
hemlock water dropwort — oenanthe crocata, one of europe's most toxic plants, kills within hours of ingestion