Conium maculatum known by the common name hemlock, even though the two plants are quite different. Similarly, the plant should not be confused with "Cicuta" (commonly known as water hemlock). The dried stems are sometimes called kecksies or kex. "Conium" comes from the Ancient Greek "κώνειον - kṓneion" : "hemlock". This may be related to "konas" (meaning to whirl), in reference to vertigo, one of the symptoms of ingesting the plant. "Conium maculatum" is an herbaceous biennial flowering plant that grows to tall, with a smooth, green, hollow stem, usually spotted or streaked with red or purple on the lower half of
Poison drilling rigs). Plant-based contact irritants, such as that possessed by poison ivy or poison oak, are often classed as allergens rather than poisons; the effect of an allergen being not a poison as such, but to turn the body's natural defenses against itself. Poison can also enter the body through the teeth (in the controversial case of dental malpractice), faulty medical implants, or by injection (which is the basis of lethal injection in the context of capital punishment). In 2013, 3.3 million cases of unintentional human poisonings occurred. This resulted in 98,000 deaths worldwide, down from 120,000 deaths in 1990.