Don't Bite!

I had just kneeled down to enter my little pup tent when I
heard the screams of agony We rushed over to the far side
of the boy scout encampment. There was Jim writhing in great pain as he held his mouth. . Not so . What had happened? Scout leader Ed had told us a short hour before about poisonous plants. He held in his hand a full Jack-in-the-pulpit specimen. He told how our native people would harvest the plant (Indian turnip) and boil the bulb to remove the oxalic acid there in. Ed said, “Don’t eat it raw! You will regret it.” Jim didn’t listen. His tent was near to a patch of the jacks. Jim bit into the uncooked corm and oxalic crystals were released into Jim’s mouth. No amount of water relieved the pain. Jim survived although with burned mouth tissues. Lesson learned? I hope so.
***
We read that the needle-like calcium oxalate crystals in the underground Jack-in-he pulpit tuber has a peppery taste, “It causes a strong burning sensation if eaten raw.” Message imparted: don’t eat anything in nature unless you are positive of its properties. Enjoy nature but take care.