--- title: Poisonous plants to stay away from: berries, foxglove, yew and nightshade — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Poisonous plants to stay away from: berries, foxglove, yew and nightshade», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In the park you spot a bush covered in shiny berries, red and juicy like sweets. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Poisonous plants to stay away from: be… # Poisonous plants to stay away from: berries, foxglove, yew and nightshade Lesson 392 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 20 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/0/) — In the park you spot a bush covered in shiny berries, red and juicy like sweets. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/1/) — They look delicious, but some of the most dangerous plants in Europe have the prettiest berries. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/2/) — Plants cannot run away from animals that want to eat them, so many protect their leaves, seeds and roots with poisons. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/3/) — A poison that only makes a deer feel sick can be very dangerous for a small child. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/4/) — Colour, smell and birds are no guide: there are poisonous berries of every colour, some poisonous flowers smell sweet, and birds can eat berries that would harm you. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/5/) — So there is one golden rule: never eat any wild berry, leaf, seed or mushroom unless a grown-up who really knows plants says it is safe. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/6/) — And if a little child eats something wild, tell a grown-up at once. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/7/) — Many berries that look tasty are poisonous, and some are dangerous even in small amounts; plants use poisons to protect their leaves and seeds. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/8/) — The golden rule: never eat any wild berry, leaf, seed or mushroom unless a grown-up who really knows plants says it is safe, and tell a grown-up at once if someone has eaten one. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/9/) — Almost every part of the yew tree is poisonous, especially its needles and the hard seed inside the red cup; birds eat the red flesh and pass the seed out whole. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/10/) — Yews can live well over a thousand years, and some in British churchyards are among the oldest trees in Europe. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/11/) — Foxgloves, tall spikes of purple finger-shaped bells, are poisonous because chemicals in them change how the heart beats; the same chemicals, carefully measured by doctors, became an old heart medicine. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/12/) — Deadly nightshade, with shiny black berries on green star-shaped cups, is one of the most poisonous plants in Europe; its poison affects the nerves, heart and eyes. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/13/) — Deadly nightshade's other name, belladonna, means beautiful lady in Italian, from an old and dangerous use of its juice on the eyes. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/14/) — Lily of the valley smells sweet but every part is poisonous, including its red autumn berries, and its leaves can be mixed up with wild garlic. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/15/) — Daffodil bulbs are poisonous and have made people sick when mixed up with onions, so bulbs and onions should be kept apart. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/16/) — Potato and tomato plants are relatives of nightshade; their leaves, stems and green potato fruits are poisonous, and potatoes turned green by light carry more of the poison, so they are kept in the dark. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/17/) — Sosnowsky's hogweed and giant hogweed, huge plants with white flower umbrellas, have sap that makes skin burn and blister in sunlight; Sosnowsky's hogweed has spread across Ukraine from old farm fields. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/18/) — Apple seeds hold a chemical that can turn into poison, but swallowing a few by accident is harmless, because the hard seed coat usually passes through you whole. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/392-poisonous-plants-to-stay-away-from-berries-foxglove-yew-and-nightshade/19/) — There are poisonous berries of every colour, and birds do not react to the same poisons as people, so neither colour nor watching birds can tell you a berry is safe. - ← previous: [Do animals dream? Twitching dogs, replaying rats and colour-changing octopuses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/391-do-animals-dream-twitching-dogs-replaying-rats-and-colour-changing-octopuses/) - next →: [Mushrooms and creatures to avoid in the woods: death caps, adders, ticks and hornets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)