Native americans used Black Walnut trees to poison fish.
Cultural traditions and archaeological research suggest that a large number of indigenous tribes across the Americas used saponin poisons from many different plants to harvest fish. The Catawba, Cherokee, and Delaware made a fishing poison from the ground bark of Black Walnut trees, Juglans nigra. The Yuchi and Creek used the roots of the Devil’s Shoestring, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, and the fruit, twigs and buds of the Horse Chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum L., to make two similar fish poisons. The Rappahannock made a fishing poison by mixing cornmeal with fish brine and allowing it to stand overnight before use. Cherokee tribes used the berries of Polk Sallet, Phytolacca Americana, to produce saponins for fishing. The Costanoan Indians of the California area used the pounded leaves of Turkey-Mullein, Eremocarpus setigerus, and the fruits of California Buckeye, Aesculus californica (Bocek, 1984), as well as the entire crushed Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum; Indian Hemp, Apocynum cannabinum; Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana; and Indian Turnip, Arisaema triphyllum (Goodchild, 1999). The pulp of Lechuguilla leaves (Agave lechuguilla) are used by Mexican Indians (Alloway, 2000). Further south, in Venezuala, indigenous cultures used the fruiting branches of Soapberry, Sapindus drummondii, and the fruits of Mexican Buckeye, Ungnadia speciosa in the manufacture of their fish-stunning poisons. Not far from there, the Engoroy of Ecuador used and continue to use theThophrastaceae endemic, Jacquinia sprucei, a shrub whose globulous fruits contain high levels of saponin.
Very intresting stuff:
http://www.survival.com/fish.htmNever knew you could make your own Rotenone.
Rotenones
The second group of fish poisons, the rotenones (a flavonoid), are found almost exclusively among legumes (Papilionaceae, Mimosaceae, Cesalpiniaceae), and more specifically in the family Fabaceae. Rotenone was first isolated in 1929 in the roots of its Peruvian namesake, the plant Rotenone (Lonchocarpus sp., locally known as barbasco or cube). Two species of this genus, L. utilis and L. urucu, quickly became an export product as an insecticide due to their relatively high (5-12%) rotenone content. Two related species from Guyana, L. martynii and L. chrysophyllus contain only 2.4% rotenone and are not considered commercially competitive (Van Andel, 2000). Another rotenone (L. nicou) is employed against piranha, and will kill them and their eggs in only 15 minutes at a concentration of 3ppm (3mg/kg) (Duke, internet).
