FFT! WFFT! (Or Why You Shouldn’t Trust Poison Ivy to Bring the Salad)

February 10th, 2009

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

Detective Comics #693 “Systemic Shock”
Chuck Dixon, writer
Staz Johnson, penciler
Published January 1996

I hope everyone looked at the Arkham Asylum Employment Application, because this scene follows immediately from that image and gives you good reason not to trust Poison Ivy’s cooking (like that isn’t common sense).

A triphyllum

Psychiatrist #1: And you grew these greens on the grounds?
Poison Ivy: And strictly organic, doctor.
Psychiatrist #1: I love fresh radishes.
Psychiatrist #2: Um…they’re tangier than I’m used to.
Psychiatrist #1: Mmf…Chmmf…They’ve got a real bite to them. Almost like–
Psychiatrist #2: FFT! [choking sound]
Psychiatrist #1: WFFT! [choking sound]

scene from Detective Comics #693

A triphyllum

Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is a common forest plant in the western half of the United States. It is well known for its unique flower that looks like a preacher standing in a pulpit (hence its name).

Native Americans used Jack in the Pulpit as a food source, but they were careful only to consume the plant once it was dried or cooked. The raw plant is extremely irritating to the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. It contains calcium oxalate crystals — which are extremely irritating to the tissues of the mouth causing swelling and a burning pain. Mild mouth or throat irritation is the most common, but there have allegedly been cases where consumption of the raw plant has led to a severe swelling of the throat, causing the victim to asphyxiate (which is what seems to be happening here. Poison Ivy seems to have found an uncommonly potent variety). If swallowed, the plant can also be extremely irritating to the stomach, causing nausea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain; it is said to have caused deaths in this manner as well. According to my most reliable medical botany text, human deaths from Jack in the Pulpit are just rumored; there have been no confirmed deaths from eating the plant.

bloom of a Jack in the Pulpitdistribution map of Jack in the Pulpit

There are a couple problems with Poison Ivy’s plan (besides her lucking into finding an extremely toxic variety of the plant): While eating raw Jack in the Pulpit causes irritation of the mouth, gums, and throat, the irritation is on the inside of the mouth. The cheeks won’t swell up like a puffer-fish. Pushing a narrow straw through the lips won’t help anyway because –
1) It’s the throat swelling that’s cutting off the airway, not the lips.
2) The straw is too narrow for good air exchange (which seems to be a common comic book theme).

If you have houseplants, there’s a good chance one or more of them have similar toxic properties to the Jack in the Pulpit. Both philodendron and dieffenbachia come from the same family and contain the same kind of crystals. Dieffenbachia also has an extremely irritating sap, making it even more potent if eaten. One of its common names is “dumbcane” because it irritates the mouth so much the victim is unable to talk.
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7 Responses to “ FFT! WFFT! (Or Why You Shouldn’t Trust Poison Ivy to Bring the Salad) ”

  1. aroid-lover
    February 11th, 2009 at 3:02 am

    This is a common case for plants within the family Araceae – so many of them seem to produce a (rather vile) quantity of oxalate crystals; philodendrons, dieffenbachias and arisaemas are just toxic. Thanks for including this strip :)

    I assume she’s just souping up the toxicity of the plant, though…

  2. Lea
    February 11th, 2009 at 6:02 am

    It sounds like it would make a much better plot device for one of those murder mysteries where the guilty party wasn’t trying to kill the victim, but incapacitate/cause pain, and the whole thing just got out of hand because the plant was more toxic than the (accidental) killer realized.

    Poisonous plants are such a hotbed of plot points. Thank you, Mother Nature.

  3. Sean Duggan
    February 11th, 2009 at 7:29 am

    I was thinking the exact same thing about the straws, at least in terms of it being the throat swelling up. I mean, she even mentions that the throat is swelling in her dialogue!

    As regards the unusual potency, I just kind of handwaved that as being an aspect of her plant powers (assuming she does still have them). I mean, we’re talking about the girl whose origin story (the first one at least) involved a really extreme case of athlete’s foot swallowing up an ex-boyfriend…

  4. arkonbey
    February 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    This is one of those plants that you wonder how it ever became any kind of food. Who was the poor sap that had to test the boiled version, knowing that raw would kill him?

    I think manioc is worse. It has to go rotten before you can eat it, or it’s a deadly poison.

  5. Theala Sildorian
    February 11th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    Not to even mention the fact Jack in the Pulpit looks nothing like a radish . . . .

  6. Tony
    February 12th, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    Then again, she may have been bluffing. If your throat is swelling up, and Poison Ivy says you’re poisoned, it’s usually a good idea to believe her.

  7. Dean
    February 16th, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    You don’t win friends with salad!

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