Foraging season has begun, and already, one Vermonter looking for ramps has been fooled by the plant's poisonous look-alike: false hellebore.
Vermont Health Department officials are urging Vermonters to know the differences between ramps and false hellebore before foraging and eating the plants.
“Eating false hellebore can be very dangerous,” said Sarah Vose, state toxicologist with the Vermont Department of Health. “You can be enjoying a meal one minute and then need to be rushed to the hospital.”
False hellebore contains poisonous chemicals called alkaloids, the Health Department said in a news release. Eating the plant causes people to be very sick, sometimes enough to be hospitalized.