A genus of highly poisonous plants in the carrot family, including water hemlock, which is one of the most toxic plants in North America.
From Latin cicuta, the Roman name for hemlock poison. The word likely predates Latin and may come from an Indo-European root, possibly related to a word meaning 'to cut' due to the plant's effect on the body.
Socrates was executed by drinking hemlock poison in 399 BCE, and scientists still debate exactly what the toxic dose was—cicuta species contain alkaloids so deadly that even touching the plant can cause severe burns.
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