O. aquatica - Fine-leafed water dropwort O. crocota - Hemlock water dropwort O. fistulosa - Tubular water dropwort O. fluviatilis - River water dropwort O. javanica - Java water dropwort O. javanica ssp. javanica - Java water dropwort O. javanica ssp. stolonifera - Stolon water dropwort O. lachenalii - Parsley water dropwort O. laciniata - Cutleaf water dropwort O. peucidanifolia O. pimpinelloides - Corky-fruited water dropwort O. sarmentosa - Water parsley O. silaifolia - Narrow-leafed water dropwort
The Oenanthe or water dropworts are a genus of plants from the family Apiaceae.
Several of the species, most notably O. crocota, are extremely poisonous. This species closely resembles the Parsnip, both in foliage and the white root. The root is particularly dangerous, as it lacks the unpleasant flavour of the foliage, but is equally toxic: the species is common in wet ditches and streamsides, and the roots are often exposed when drainage ditches are cleared. Livestock fatalities are frequent when these exposed roots are found and eaten in mistake for parsnips, one root being sufficient to kill a cow. Human fatalities are also known in these circumstances.
Oenanthe crocnta is an endemic plant of Sardinia and Corsica.
In fact, this plant produces a toxin of the picrotoxin group called oenanthotoxin, which when ingested is capable of causing convulsions followed by lethal coma.
The plant was picked in the balsamic period (June-July) along the river Bonorchis, in the territory of Abbasanta (Nuoro), more precisely in the area between 4°83' and 4°84' W longitude and 44°44' and 44°45' N latitude.
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