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Dr Elizabeth Dauncey: Poisonous Plants – and how to live with them
Thursday 19 September at 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Dr Elizabeth Dauncey is a freelance botanical toxicologist, having studied botany at the University of Durham before completing a PhD in plant taxonomy at the University of Reading. Over the past 30 years she has worked for organisations including the National Poisons Information Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust in London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where she currently works on the Plants for Health initiative. She also provides on-call identification of plants for the Veterinary Poisons Information Service and their Animal Poison Line.
Elizabeth has co-authored several books on poisonous and medicinal plants, most recently the popular science publications: Plants that Kill: A Natural History of the World’s most Poisonous Plants (2018), and Plants that Cure: Plants as a Source of Medicines – from Pharmaceuticals to Herbal Remedies (2020). She has worked with the Horticultural Trades Association to review the toxicity of plants sold in the UK, resulting in the HTA Guide to Potentially Harmful Plants (2022)
Many of the plants we value for their horticultural merit or encounter on a walk have a darker side, being poisonous to humans or other animals. This should be no surprise as the presence of toxic substances can protect them from predation. Elizabeth will draw on her experience to introduce some of these plants, the diverse range of toxins that they contain, and some of the uses, both good and evil, that we have found for them. She will also provide tips and suggestions for how to live safely with these often beautiful, and always fascinating, plants.
Lectures will take place on the third Thursday of the month at the Frank Theatre, Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL. Lectures are free to Friends on production of their membership card and students on production of their student card. Guests will be asked for a donation (suggested £5).
Attendees can use any University car park; the nearest are in University Walk and The Hawthorns – please see map with lecture details.
Friends Lectures Parking Guide and Map
For those unable to join us in person, this lecture will be live-streamed by Zoom. Please find the joining details below. This meeting will not be recorded.