One of my favorite wildflowers is monkshood, also called wolfsbane.1 There’s an area in the Sandias where it shows up at the beginning of August almost every year.
It’s allegedly quite poisonous.2 I’ve read that just touching its leaves can be a fatal proposition. As it happens, I accidentally brushed my hand against a few monkshood leaves last year while taking photos. I anxiously awaited ill effects but never noticed any.3
I think the flowers are rather odd-looking. The first time I saw them growing wild, I couldn’t even figure out how they were pollinated — I could see neither pistils nor stamens. Fortunately a little orange and yellow bee came along to show me the way.
Monkshood also makes an appearance in the first Harry Potter book, in Snape’s class of course.
Click here to read a true story of two almost-fatal monkshood poisonings in San Francisco a few years ago.
Some species aren’t quite as virulent as others. And/or maybe I just got lucky.