Comment by nkrisc
8 hours ago
They mention the toxin comes from the rhododendron flower. I remember camping in North Carolina once and one of the people I was with warned against burning anything from the rhododendron in the area, as supposedly the smoke would give you the runs.
I mostly thought they were joking, and I have no idea what specific type of rhododendron would be there (if any), but maybe there’s a glimmer of merit to it? Or maybe they were thinking of a different plant?
This was somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains, if I remember correctly.
Another one is Oleander, heard stories of people burning this off in incinerators and inhaling the smoke and getting very sick
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11946565/
I was wondering if someone would mention this. I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC and heard this all my life. Once had a camp councilor who would inspect every twig to make sure there was none burned.
I also burned Rhododendron wood in campfires and brush fires more times than I can count without any adverse effects that I know of. My back yard was completely overgrown with the stuff. I’m sure the smoke inhalation of any fire is worse for you than anything specific about rhododendrons.
https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7100/are-rhodod...
You also don't want to burn poison ivy because the oil (urushiol) is not something you want in your lungs if you are reactive to it.
Florida's manchineel tree (with the tiny apples) is the OG wood you don't burn because it blinds you.
Or oleander [1], which people occasionally poison themselves with by burning its wood.
1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbio...
1 reply →
But you also don't touch it, eat it, or stand under it when it rains, so the opportunity to burn it by mistake is limited.
1 reply →
i believe ingestion is the primary concern, but the smoke can also lead to symptoms, yes.
That makes sense. We definitely weren’t going to eat random plants, but we could have easily accidentally grabbed some for firewood or kindling.