What's your poison?
Angels Trumpet
‘Brugmansia spp”
Although beautiful, the Angel’s trumpet hides a deadly secret – every inch of this plant, if consumed can cause muscle weakness, dilated pupils and dry mouth, as well as a rapid pulse, fever and hallucinations. Paralysis and convulsions may also occur, as well as coma and death.
In Victorian England, women were known to use the pollen of this plant in tea to induce LSD like hallucinations.
Laburnum Tree
You may find this tree growing in your back garden, in fact it is a popular choice because of it’s size and densely packed flowers.
But don’t be complacent, all parts of this tree are poisonous – although rarely deadly – the side effects are far from pleasant.
Side effects include: vomiting, uncontrollable convulsive movements, intense sleepiness, coma, frothing at the mouth, unequally dilated pupils and severe diarrhoea.
Wolf’s Bane
‘Aconitum’
This plant goes by many names ‘Monkshood’ ‘Aconite’ ‘Devil’s Helmet’
The poison of this plant has been used for centuries – as a weapon.
It was often used on spears and arrows in battle and it was even believed to repel Werewolves!
This plant is deadly enough to kill an entire village just by putting it’s roots in a drinking well.
Nicandra
The Nicandra belongs to a group of flowers called Nightshade.
Other members of the nightshade family include; Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant, although of course, these won’t kill you, they all contain trace amounts of Solanine which is toxic in high amounts.
The information surrounding this plant is somewhat conflicting, some say it will kill you, some say they use it as a medicine.
Do you want to risk it?
Castor Oil Plant
‘Ricinus’
You may be wondering “what is deadly about castor oil?” well, those with a good eye may have spotted the latin name for this plant Ricinus, Any of you who have watched Breaking Bad may remember when Walter White prepares a Ricin trap to kill off rival drug dealers.
Ricin is highly poisonous if inhaled or injected, but less so when ingested.
When inhaled or injected, just a few grains of it can kill an adult, due to its high toxicity.
Deadly Nightshade
‘Atropa Belladonna’
Belladonna as you may have guessed by it’s common name is another member of the nightshade family.
Ingesting just 2-4 berries of this plant is enough to kill a small child, the berries on this plant are often mistaken for wild blackberries.
Many animals such as horses, cattle and sheep, regularly chew on this plant with no ill-effect, however for a human, simply chewing on a single leaf can lead to an early grave.