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.

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malbs a day ago | parent | next [-]

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/

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SoftTalker a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

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riazrizvi a day ago | parent [-]

Florida's manchineel tree (with the tiny apples) is the OG wood you don't burn because it blinds you.

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blacksmith_tb a day ago | parent | next [-]

Or oleander [1], which people occasionally poison themselves with by burning its wood.

1: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbio...

	▲	riazrizvi a day ago \| parent [-]
		Fascinating. So it seems to have been used for parasitic and fungal skin treatments, angina, and to induce miscarriage. With no doubt a very narrow band of error.

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dmurray a day ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

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wpollock a day ago | parent [-]

You remind me of Episode 2 of the Apothecary Diaries: several Chinese troops were poisoned after eating local food. The food was fine, the wood used for fire and eating utensils was the source. I wonder if something like that ever actually happened?

	▲	onlypassingthru 14 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I would think any poisonous campfire would be quickly noticeable (who the hell likes to breathe campfire smoke?) and you would have to actually ingest the toxin like the guys who drank poisoned coffee. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-deadly-camping-t...
	▲	winocm a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That is such a good show.

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eleventen a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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...

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john_strinlai a day ago | parent | prev [-]

i believe ingestion is the primary concern, but the smoke can also lead to symptoms, yes.

	▲	nkrisc a day ago \| parent [-]
		That makes sense. We definitely weren’t going to eat random plants, but we could have easily accidentally grabbed some for firewood or kindling.