Toxic Plant Spotlight: Wild or White Snakeroot; the Plant that Killed Abraham Lincoln’s Mother

"Wild or White snakeroot is a problem for livestock if they consume it.

All parts of the plant are toxic.

Transferring the toxin through cow's milk is a concern for humans, known as milk sickness."

July 7, 1965

On this day, The Vincennes Sun-Commercial out of Vincennes, Indiana, reported:

It was about 140 years ago that the town of Hindustan, Indiana, was abandoned by its residents because of a plague of "milk fever."

This disease occurs after milk cows have eaten Wild Snakeroot.

A few years ago a botanist [shared] that the Hindostan neighborhood still is the best place in the Midwest to collect Wild Snakeroot for laboratory work."

Wild or White snakeroot is a problem for livestock if they consume it.

All parts of the plant are toxic.

Transferring the toxin through cow's milk is a concern for humans, known as milk sickness.

In the early 1800s, milk sickness resulted in the death of thousands of people; the most famous person to die from it was Abraham Lincoln's mother in 1818.