Illuminating the dark side of plants

Plant poisoning is a significant problem around the world. In the United States, exposures to plant toxins account for approximately ten percent of the annual calls to the nation's Poison Control Centers. Responding to the need for a useful guide to the harmful potential of plants, Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants provides portable, comprehensive information to the toxic plants encountered everywhere, both inside and outside the home.

This clearly structured and colorfully illustrated guidebook, co-published by The New York Botanical Garden Press and Springer, is an indispensable resource for hikers, gardeners, parents of small children, pet owners, physicians, nurses, and veterinarians. Its handsome and information-packed presentation will also appeal to everyone who loves plants or collects books about plants.

Lewis R. Goldfrank, Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, comments, "This second edition of the Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants is a remarkable improvement to a great book. New graphics and formal structure increase its value for the lay person and the clinician."

Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants presents clear information on hundreds of plants. It is lavishly illustrated, elegantly highlighting each plant's distinguishing characteristics. The images include 398 full-color photographs as well as color plates from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden.

The book contains vital information on a broad variety of poisonous and injurious temperate and tropical plants such as holly, poinsettia, and philodendron. It also includes common names, descriptions, species distribution, and information on the toxic part of each plant, and provides the latest medical information along with scientific references. An easy-to-use glossary of botanical terms helps guide the non-specialist through this fascinating and multidisciplinary field.

The authors of this completely revised edition (first published by the American Medical Association in 1985) include two physicians in active practice in medical toxicology and emergency medicine: Lewis S. Nelson, M.D., New York University School of Medicine, and Richard D. Shih, M.D., Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, New Jersey. They teamed with Michael J. Balick, Ph.D., a noted ethnobotanist and authority on toxic plants and Director of the Institute of Economic Botany at The New York Botanical Garden.

Source : Springer