I read the clematis plant has a pepper-like substance.
Where can I find information on this and how it would affect a person especially if it came in contact with the eye? Thanks so much for any information you can provide.
Answer
Dear Linda: If there is a medical issue, go to the Poisin Control Center or contact your physician. Otherwise, yes, there is a Clematis called the Pepper Clematis which is native to the western part of our country and Canada. The leaves and seed were used by the western settlers for pepper when real pepper was hard to get or unavailable. The entire Clematis genus can be irritating to the skin and mucus membranes and, if consumed in large quantities, can be troublesome to the digestive tract. Having written that, "teas" made from the foliage were used medicinally by Native Americans. If you go on line and read about Clematis ligusticifolia, other "medicinal" uses for the Clematis are described.