Is Wild Celery the Same as Water Dropwort? Learn How to Tell the Two Apart

Wild celery is also known as cowbane, Chinese pulsatilla, poison hemlock, water hemlock, spotted cowbane, and zomaqin, because the appearance of wild celery somewhat resembles the water dropwort and celery we eat, making it very easy to be poisoned by eating it by mistake. So is wild celery the same as water dropwort? How to tell them apart?

1. Is wild celery the same as water dropwort?

Wild celery is not water dropwort. Wild celery grows in plains wetlands or along river ditches. It is mainly distributed in China's Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Xinjiang, as well as in the Russian Far East, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. Cowbane is one of the highly toxic plants. Its toxic component, cicutoxin, is a neutral resin-like substance with a picrotoxin-like effect, easily soluble in alcohol and alkaline solutions, mainly contained in the root but also present in other parts. Cicutoxin is very easily absorbed, and a person poisoned by eating it will show symptoms within minutes, with the lips often blistering (even blood blisters). Its main toxicity acts on the central nervous system, and it has a very significant convulsant effect. After poisoning there is dizziness, vomiting, convulsions, reddening of the skin, and a livid complexion, finally followed by paralysis and death from respiratory failure. In animal tests, a very small amount can inhibit the central nervous system, having a sedative effect, with blood pressure slightly lowered and urine output slightly increased; a large amount causes convulsions, elevated blood pressure, accelerated breathing, and finally respiratory arrest. It has a certain awakening effect on hypnotic drug (barbiturate) poisoning, but does not antagonize its lethal effect, and the antagonism between the two is not selective. The lethal dose for intravenous injection in cats is 5.36 mg/kg, and for intraperitoneal injection in mice is 48.3 micrograms/g. Poisoning deaths have been reported all over the world. There are reports that a small amount can cause poisoning even through dry skin. This toxin is heat-stable, and its toxicity remains unchanged when stored at 0-5°C for 8 months. Poisoning rescue includes gastric lavage, artificial respiration, administration of oxygen, and barbiturates (depending on the situation). In European folk medicine, this plant is made into an ointment or infusion for external use to treat certain skin diseases and as a pain reliever for gout, rheumatism, neuralgia, and the like.

2. How to tell wild celery and celery apart?

Water dropwort is non-toxic and can be eaten. Wild celery is highly toxic and cannot be eaten. Its toxic components are coniine, methylconiine, and cicutoxin. Coniine acts similarly to curare, able to paralyze motor nerves and inhibit the medullary center. Water dropwort mostly grows by the water, is odorless and scentless, and has smooth stems. Wild celery mostly grows on land, smells foul, and has white fuzz on its stems that feels prickly to the touch.

Water dropwort has slender leaf serrations and slender stems, and its effects are much the same as celery. Wild celery has broader and shorter leaves that look more like domestic celery. It cannot be eaten; as an herbal medicine, it is used externally as a pain reliever for snake bites, osteomyelitis, certain skin diseases, and gout, rheumatism, neuralgia, and the like.