Nature Done Wright

On Monday I wrote:

What does this fall-blooming flower have to do with Abe Lincoln's mother?

I learned all about this at Mike Lefebvre's wonderful Celery Farm walk on Saturday.

The murder part might be overstating the case, but I liked the alliteration.

Mike explained that Abe Lincoln's mother died from milk sickness, from drinking milk from a cow that ate a plant called White Snakeroot.  Not sure if it was exactly murder, but the cow had the means and opportunity. Still working on the motive.

You can learn more about milk sickness here.

It's akin to a raptor eating a poisoned rat, then dying from the secondary poisoning.