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The plant kingdom does offer a great many delicious tastes but some can prove to be final…as a matter of fact many species which look pleasant and may even produce nice colours and perfumes can have highly destructive effects if ingested or even slightly touched and this concerns quite a few common plants.
This is a common feature amongst the Solanaceae family which often bear alkaloids, big toxic molecules. Many gardens host the wonderful free-flowering and strongly scented Brugmansia (often called erroneously ‘Datura' as they are closely related but belong to a different genus). The whole plant contains alkaloids derivative of a tropane basis, mainly hyoscyamine, atropine and scopolamine, the seeds being the richer part. Although the leaves are sometimes smoked to treat asthma they may lead to severe intoxication leading to vertigo, drowsiness, mydriasis, tachycardia, hallucinations, respiratory paralysis and then death...this plant is actually used in many countries as intoxicant and poison. The true Datura which are not usually grown in garden but very often seen on rubbles and refuses are just as dangerous and used by criminals in India to poison innocent travellers so as to rob them and are an important part of the beverage used in Haiti to produce the zombie phenomena. Another member of this botanical family which is quite often seen in tropical gardens is the Solandra nitida or chalice vine, a powerful climber with enormous yellow flowers exhaling a coconut perfume. The whole plant is full of solandrine which is very similar to atropine and will lead to digestive troubles, nauseas, vomiting, mouth dryness, diarrhoea, delirium, convulsion and coma...
An even more common species as it is found not only in private gardens and public parks but also grown along roadsides, the rose-bay (Nerium oleander) belongs to the Apocynaceae family and is extremely poisonous in all of its parts. It produces cardiac glycosides such asoleandroside, nerioside and neriantoside which are all related to digitaline found in foxgloves. Chewing the leaves will induce vomiting, belly aches, heart troubles and often will lead to death. I had the chance (if one can say!) to personally experiment such intoxication while I travelled in Greece and inhaled smoke from a fire where stumps and branches of the oleander had been thoughtlessly tossed, I hadto lay flat for 24 hours and felt real bad. For those of the readers who are into historical stuff let them remember the many deaths of Napoleon soldiers who invaded Egypt and died after using oleander branches as skewers. A tea made with the leaves and used as abortive has led to many a death in Africa.
Another favourite in tropical gardens and amongst enthusiasts is the Anthurium, one of the numerous genus of the Araceae family. This very decorative plant much used for bouquets contains saponins and calcium oxalate crystals, even a small piece brought to the mouth will almost immediately provoke a swelling of the throat which will soon bring death by the mean of suffocation. Sensitive people will even get itching and burnt-like reaction when sap comes in contact with the skin. Another member of the Araceae quite often used as indoor plant has the same properties, the Dieffenbachia has been called ‘dumb-cane' and one will easily understand why.
After this little garden tour which should make some of your hair stand on end we will continue by venturing into gullies and fallows, good places to find all sorts of witchy accessories...Here we will soon find castor oil plant, Ricinus communis which is a common sight on Reunion, a handsome plant with large palmate leaves. The weapon here is hidden in the seeds as contains a deadly phytotoxin called ricin. Fifteen seeds will be enough to kill a grown up while two or three of the same seeds will have the same result for a child. The effects are burning of the mouth, throat, abdomen, strong vomiting, intense thirst, bloody diarrhoeas, sight troubles, fainting and death. This frightening member of the Euphorbiaceae family is found in many places as it has, and still is to some extent, been used to produce oil.
Let us stay in this ravine bottom and get closer to a small vine nicely ornate by clusters of dry fruits which are full of shiny seeds half red and half black, very attractive indeed! This is the rosary pea of jequirity, Abrus precatorius. Do not be afraid here, you can touch the seeds, smell them, lick them, even put them in the mouth and swallow, it will go through your digestive track and come out as the very hard coat will protect it against gastric juices. But to be honest I would not recommend doing this because it would suffice that the seed has a crack or that you would break it with your teeth and this would bring an especially horrible end; the abrine contained by the seed would slowly be released in your body and after a few hours or days would start agglutinate your red corpuscles leading to intense headaches, hypotension, multiple haemorrhages (mostly digestive system and retina), possibly hallucinations, delirium and convulsions, a whole fire work you do not really want to experiment. This rather common plant in dry tropical areas is very often used to make collars and other ornaments but just one or two seeds falling accidentally from the cook's neck in the cooking pot will make it the last meal for many a guest. Actually the lethal dose in half a seed for an adult, and those are tiny seeds.
In order to finish off the few surviving readers we will now consider a nice yellow flower also quite common in the dry tropics, the spiny poppy or chicalote. Argemone mexicana as you can guess from the name comes from Mexico and belongs to the Papaveraceae family, famous for the poppy, another strong poison. This here poppy is full of alkaloids (of course!) of the isoquinoelein type; protropin, berberin. Here the seeds are also the main responsible for legs oedemas, general aches, diarrhoeas, dyspnea (troubles breathing), heart insufficiency, anemia.
I hope this article did not terrify you but a warned gardener is worth two, avoid tasting what you do not know. What about a little seed brunch with me now? Sure you don't want?
About Jean-Jacques Segalen
I am a Parisian born professional horticulturist specialized in tropical seeds producing, set on Reunion island (just between Mauritius and Madagascar) 17 years ago. I spend a lot of time gathering seeds in the wild, the ones I do not grow that is. Also a dedicated Tai-Chi practitioner and tree climber!
Posted by sparkyNY (from Ridgewood, NY) on April 29, 2008 at 4:28 AM:
Wow...had no idea Ricin was so deadly! But I do have a story to share !
The plants are deep red to purple-brown in color, can get as tall as 6-7 feet, resembling a tree-like bush, with palmate enormous leaves. At maturity, they produce flowers which in turn develop into these round spiny pods, each filled with two seeds the size of a kidney bean.
I come from Romania, where these plants not only are grown in people's front yards, but you will see plenty on the side of the road !!
I once took some bean-like seeds of Ricin from my aunt's front yard, to plant in my own, only because they were very pretty, free "palms" hahaha ! I did ask where I should plant them, since I could have taken baby plants already established (the plant forms offshoots at the base, little plants ready to be transplanted), but my aunt was being very stingy with them and only offered seeds. So off I go, with 4 seeds, and plant them so: 2 under a lilac bush, in the shade, one in full sun, one next to a rosebush, and the last next to the house.
Imagine my surprise, when I was greeted one day with 4 plants! All of the seeds spouted, and were close to 4-5 inches tall when I remembered what they were!! This was my mother-in-law's home, and she did her own gardening of course; I had to specifically tell her to water the "weeds" when she would hose down her other plants !
The end came when my little Ricins were about a foot tall, maybe more, and my father-in-law pulled them out along with the "other weeds", as he was cleaning up.... needless to say, he cut them, then pulled out the rest, so they were useless. Upon seeing me almost cry, his response was: "Good riddance! What do you need Ricin for, anyway?"
Well, I was 20yrs old; with an 11-month old infant running around in the yard, I realize now I knew WAAAY to little about plants AND motherhood at the time, and my father-in-law knew waaaay more than I thought he did !!
The fastest way to avoid an argument with me, and possibly a sick baby: he killed my killer plants, no questions asked, no explanations given. Smart man !
P.S. Come to find out on Google, after reading this article, that they're illegal in the continental US... who knew?
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 29, 2008 at 6:00 AM:
Sparky,
Nice story. But actually I do not think the plant itself is poisonous though the seeds indeed are. This is one trick with toxic plants, some part can be lethal while some are edible! Here on Reunion island people eat Solanum nigrum which is good, the fully ripe berries can also be eaten once fully ripe but are deadly when green and for most people in Europe the plant is a no-touch one, I even freaked out a group of botanists in France as I picked a few black berries and chewed on them, they really though I was insane...
JJ
...
Posted by scicciarella (from Metcalfe, ON) on May 27, 2008 at 8:20 PM:
actually the whole thing is the roots, leaves, stems, and flowers, with the seeds but many of the nice plants we grow are the same but we do not eat them, it is just that you should always what toddlers when outside since you do the same in your house, they will get into anything so we as parents have to watch them
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 28, 2008 at 12:29 AM:
Oups, seems I already mentioned this S. nigrum thing in answering your other post Scicciarella...
...
Subject: Very Informative
Posted by malli (from Santa Clara, CA) on April 28, 2008 at 11:24 AM:
Very informative. Thanks. Growing up in India, Abrus precatorius was one of my favourites. The seeds are really pretty and I used to collect them. While in college I came upon a scientific american article that described it as a 'poison'. I did not know that half a seed was enough to kill!
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 28, 2008 at 11:55 AM:
Hi Malli,
Yes, this Abrus is very tricky, I mean you can handle the seeds, play with them, wear them and even eat them but eat them whole, not broken! There are many a plant out there which would take people's life. Indian people know quite a lot about such plants.
...
Subject: Yikes!
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on April 27, 2008 at 5:28 PM:
Jean-Jacques,
I think I am quite safe because I do not think any of those things would grow in my nice, COLD garden. And no, thank you, I shall not be joining you for brunch today - maybe another day?
xx, Carrie
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Posted by Lindawalkabout (from Holden, MO) on April 27, 2008 at 10:45 PM:
ahhhhh I'm go'na pass on brunch too if you don't mind.
Great artical and valued info. I'm surprised these are not talked about more to safe guard against.
Thank you for your studies and sharing them. We all should know about these plants.
...
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 28, 2008 at 7:31 AM:
Ah well my brunch today was rather classical but I am working on a future article conerning a special treat folks enjoy here; fried wasp larvaes. No kidding.
Regarding toxic plants they are all over the place but as tropics have more diversity we also get more choice of poisons!
...
Posted by Lindawalkabout (from Holden, MO) on April 28, 2008 at 8:51 AM:
Your right on that jjacques, toxic plants everywhere.
I've been morel mushroom hunting in poison ivy and some of the shrooms I see out there I would not touch with a ten foot pool.
You know your artical is very important here in DG, with a lot of people seed swapping and getting seeds from all over the world, you really got to know what your putting in your yard and gardens. Will there be kids around, pets around.
I got an herb type seed from a dear friend , good for many things but if it gets in the fields you can make your livestock sick and even kill them : (.
Can't wait to hear about fried wasp larvaes, yummy, lol
Have a good day , may it be filled with good healthy plants and critters to munch on!!!!!!!
Oh and one more thing, the so called safe foods in the stores, ain't that safe either : (
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Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 28, 2008 at 11:53 AM:
Yep Linda, danger is all around us, you can even choke on lawn clippings;)) Indeed, folks have to be careful with what they grow as some nasty plants can easily escape and become a problem.
Yummy yummy, almost as yummy as snails!
I always had the idea that stores are not very safe places anyway, I prefer getting my food from trees!
...
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on April 28, 2008 at 11:57 AM:
Ha ha, you and Tarzan? Some people adore escargots (snails) although I've never managed to acquire a taste even for calamari (octopus). xx, Carrie
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Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on April 28, 2008 at 1:27 PM:
Well, escargots as well as cuisses de grenouilles and larves de guêpes are good mostly because of the garlic and parsley butter sauce you had otherwise the taste is colse to the one of used chewing-gums...In order to enjoy calamari you have to go to Greece and eat a plate of fried ones next to the Egean see, possibly siping local white wine!
...
Posted by TexasPuddyPrint (from Edinburg, TX) on May 8, 2008 at 9:44 PM:
JJ...
Are you still eating fried wasp larvae? I remember those from that calendar you sent several years ago with all those wonderfully exotic but sometimes weird things from Reunion Island!!! Oh well, guess we're not any better - you know all about the crazy food stuff from the southern border! Curandero toe nail clippings to season it all!!! Ha! Ha!
Now back to the article. This is truly beneficial. Extremely informative indeed!!! Trouble is most of those grow wild out here!!! My word, castor bean plants are all along the canals and ditches. Do you know if it is true that you can put a few seeds down a gopher or mole hole and it will eat it an die? I haven't tried that yet...whatcha think? Of course, you know with my job we know all about the dangers of Ricin. Really freaks me out to see Ricinus communis listed as an ingredient in cosmetics...then again, there's the good old faithful castor oil we were fed as kids! :o)
That Mexican poppy grows wild - very invasive bugger! Needless to say, the state of Texas has oleanders growing in the medians of the major highways out here. They serve as a wind-break and well, must admit some of the colors of their blossoms are lovely to look at when they are in full bloom.
Good thing I don't like the smell of datura either. We see that popping up in vacant lots and around junk yards. Why is that? Do birds or mice haul off the seed pods and upchuck them or what? Pretty blooms and had a few growing in my yard for a couple of years but the odor of the leaves drove me nuts. I ended up pulling them all out!
Really enjoyed this article!!!
Take care ~ Cat
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Posted by Fitsy (from Hayesville, NC) on May 10, 2008 at 8:28 AM:
Thank you so very much for the VALUABLE information!!!
Fitsy
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Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 10, 2008 at 11:53 AM:
Hey Cat,
I not only eat those but am writing an article with pics on the subject, mmmh!
Mexican poppies are very invasive here but they stay on the hot dry parts and are not seen in my place (650m high) or on the rainy parts.
Datura love disturbed places as well as places where rubbish was dumped cause they need potash, this is why they are found in abandoned gardens. The leaves can be smoked to cure asthma but dosage is so delicate one may end in the loonies if they try it...
Hey Fitsy,
Always good to know your enimies even if they don't come at you!
JJ
...
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on May 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM:
Myself, I thought cuisses de grenouilles tasted like chicken - with, as you say, garlicky butter. Larves de guepes are difficult to obtain around here, but I understand they're nice and crunchy. And how do you know what used chewing gum tastes like, after all? Have you been chewing used gun again?
Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 10, 2008 at 2:13 PM:
Indeed cuisses de grenouilles do not have much taste, just like snails, but larves de guêpes have a nice little hazelnuts taste and they get crunchy once fried but real connoisseurs enjoy them right out of the nest while they are still wriggling...
Hmm, chewing used gun? No, I would never try this for sure;))
Thanks for the link!
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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on May 10, 2008 at 2:18 PM:
I found it unclear whether it was actual larves they were using, or maybe that was just a cute name. My father went through a phase when he was fond of chocolate covered ants - I lost track of whether it was his second childhood or his seventh. . . although I believe nowadays you can get anything covered in chocolate!
...
Posted by TexasPuddyPrint (from Edinburg, TX) on May 10, 2008 at 8:30 PM:
Am thinking it was that HotLix company or some local company that sells the infamous tequila worm in a candy lollipop. Used to see them at just about every convience store out here. Such are the joys/pitfalls of living along the Mexico border. Andrew Zimmerman can have 'em! UGH!!!
~ Cat
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Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 11, 2008 at 1:33 AM:
This is actual larvaes indeed, it is a good protein source used in quite a few countries around. I also saw this thing on TV about folks in Canada raising earthworms for food, the fresh earthworm salad looked rather...strange to say the least! Ants and termits are an usual food in parts of Africa and Australia.
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Posted by scicciarella (from Metcalfe, ON) on May 27, 2008 at 8:15 PM:
I live in canada and we grow daturas, brugs, and castor bean plants and also many other plants that can be called dangerous, but if you do your homework you will see that tomato plants are just as bad but you eat the tomato which is okay but the plant leaves I use them blended with oil as an insect repelant for my garden last year I by mistake got some on my arm well it was not a nice reaction lol
carrot green are also toxic, so where do you draw the line well be smart and only eat what is food the rest well watch you small children and guess what most animals including my not to smart dog will not eat the bad stuff but will eat all my spices and vegies lol
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Posted by jjacques (from LE TAMPON
(Reunion (French))) on May 28, 2008 at 12:27 AM:
Hi scicciarella
I sure know the line is very thin between poison and food...here on Reunion we often eat a weed called 'Bréde morelle' which is Solanum nigrum and that nobody in Europe would touch even with the end of a barge pole, especially not people in the country. And the raw plant and green fruits are very toxic indeed but once cleaned of the fruits and cooked they are excellent...I also used to enjoy a lot nettles soup but for most folks nettles are 'no-touch plants'!
