David Qunnin, age 11, of Franklin, N. C., for his questions

What are the  poisonous plants of North Carolina?

Throughout the daylight hours= all the green plants in the world are busy pouring breathable oxygen into the air, Many of them are our food vegetables and still others provide the food for our meat and dairy animals. In the mains plants are our friends. But dust a few of all the teeming varieties are hostile to us and a small number are downright dangerous,

Sensible people learn to recognize all the unfriendly plants in their neighborhoods, Andy's list of the dangerous plants in the Carolinas is ineemplete for several reasons,  A complete list would fill a book. Besides which, you would be cheated out of a lot of furl and detective work. Here are some suggestions about compiling this list for yourself. Arm yourself with pencil and notebook and make the first stop the public library.

Search out all the books on wild plants, especially those that deal with your state and neighborhood, The fob is easier if it is shared with a group of friends. Make notes on the plants which are merely annoying, those which are irritating and those which are downright dangerous* Make sketches of leaves, flowers and blossoms to help you recognize them,

One list should be on poisonous berries. Learn to recognize the deadly belladonna alias the bittersweet. This lovely vine with the dainty white flower sprays is a relative of the pea. Its handsome purple berries are deadly. You might make a note that the wilted leaves of wild blackberry are also poisonous. List the red stemmed, purple¬berried pokeberry.

Early settlers used to make ink from its berries and cook its young shoots as a green vegetable   but its roots are poisonous.

Now list the deadly innocents. This long list includes a lot of quite harmless looking garden plants. We should never, for example, nibble on the leaves of lilies, larkspur, lupine; the trailing clematis or the Christmas rose. All contain poisons in their foliage* The wild hemlock also belongs in this group, It is a deadly relative of the innocent parsley. Its ferny leaves have often been mistaken for wild parsley, its seeds for anise and its roots for parsnips. But no one ever lived to make this mistake a second time.

A list of the blisterers, of course, starts off with poison ivy. This little pest even tan carry on its chemical warfare through the air. The irritating oils can be carried in the smoke when you burn this plant in a bonfire. Also on this list are poison oak and poison sumac   all of which flourish in the Carolinas.

Another list should include the allergy plants, such as the ragweed pollen which causes hay fever. Avoid all mushrooms and toadstools growing wild, for the fungus family cannot be trusted. This family includes the countless bacteria, some of which are dangerous, but all are too small to be seen.