Ouroboros Spine xii. it's spiraling down

Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the boy watching, Aiwë was knowledgeable enough not to touch the plant -- even if she wasn't yet sure that it was truly harmful. Most botanists, at least those with common sense, would know better than to risk grabbing any part of a suspicious plant in their mouth or even touch it with their skin. 

Instead, the doe bent and began to scrape away at the soft, moist earth the stalks were rooted in. She would destroy it, she decided, for she could see no reason why they might need poisons and there was no sense in risking one of their packmates ingesting it. She would dig it up, root and stem, before fetching a hide to wrap it in and dispose of it beyond their territory, she decided as she tore at the ground.