Frequently (and not so frequently) Asked Questions
BRIEF: Are the berries from a viburnum dentatum Chicago lustre poisonous?
QUESTION:
I am trying to find out if the berries from a viburnum dentatum Chicago
lustre are poisonous.
ANSWER:
Good question. While popularly considered poisonous, I have never found
any cases in the literature of actual poisoning. The cooked fruit has been
used for food by Native Americans and European descendents alike, and both
the bark and fruit are used as antispasmodics and to prevent miscarriage.
I would assume that the active principles may also have toxic effects at a
sufficient dose.
I think that it is very significant that every food and medicinal use of
these berries (or bark in the case of medicine) is following cooking,
usually boiling. Jams, pies, teas, etc., all involved heat and moisture. It
could very well be that there are toxic substances which are inactivated or
at least attenuated by boiling. It seems like we would know more about such
a common plant is such long use, but we don't. I don't know of any use of
the raw berries, and if they did make one sick, then that would explain the
popular (and in that case correct) beliefs concerning this plant..
The bark from cotton root causes strong uterine contractions and has been
used by Southwestern Indians and Southern slaves both to help expell a
child after long labor and to produce abortions. Viburnum prunifolium was
employed by slaveowners to counteract the effects of cotton root bark taken
by women attempting such abortions. [1882 Can. Pharm. J. 275 as cited on
page 150 by Erichsen-Brown in Medicinal and Other Uses of North American
Plants]. That is a different species in the genus, but I thought you might
find that interesting...