Transcript Deadly plants - conservation2009

Deadly plants
By Adam Schneider
Castor Bean/Season
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Just one tiny castor bean is
enough to kill an adult within
a few minutes. But castor oil
is made safe with the
removable of the lethal
compound known as ricin.
This plant is mainly grown in
California. Castor bean plant
grows as an annual that can
get 8-15 ft tall in a single
growing season. They tend to
grow straight up at first,
developing branches only
later in the season.
Castor Bean

Location
The castor bean was originally native to
northeastern Africa and the Middle East. It has
escaped cultivation and become naturalized as a
weed almost everywhere in the world that has a
tropical or subtropical climate. Castor bean also
grows wild on rocky hillsides, in waste places,
along road shoulders, and at the edges of
cultivated lands.
Rosary Pea

The pea may sound sweet and rosary
but it’s downright nasty, it’s actually
one of the most dangerous plants on
earth. Its seeds contain a particular
lectin known as abrin; if chewed and
swallowed, death will follow shortly.
The seeds are easily identified with
their distinctive bright red jacket and
single black dot (like a lady bug).
Abrin, which does its damage by
inactivating ribosomes, is one of the
most fatal toxins on earth. If you
thought you could get away with a
quick death your wrong it starts out
with the bizarre hyper excitability,
edema, renal tubular degeneration,
bladder and retinal hemorrhage,
widespread internal lesions, vomiting,
fever, nausea, drooling and G.I.
dysfunction, then finally fatally
convulsive seizures. What a way to die.
Rosary Pea

Location
Rosary pea has been widely used in
Florida as an ornamental plant for many
years. The native range of rosary pea is
India and parts of Asia, where this plant is
used for various purposes.
Bushmans Poison

Bushman’s poison has
famously been used by the
Khoisan of South Africa to
poison the tips of their
arrows. Though the plant
produces pleasantly scented
flowers and a tasty plumlike berry, the milky sap
can be fatal. The leaves,
however, have medicinal
properties.
Angels Trumpet

Related to tomatoes and potatoes, the
angel’s trumpet is a highly effective
hallucinogen, but should not be consumed
for recreational purposes as it can also be
lethal. According to Wikipedia: “The
active ingredients are atropine,
hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are
classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics.
Due to the elevated risk of overdose in
uninformed users, many hospitalizations,
and some deaths are reported from
recreational use.” This common plant also
goes by many other names, including
jimson weed, stink weed, loco weed, and
devil’s snare. One 18-year-old who was
house-sitting alone for his uncle recounts how
he decided to prepare some angel’s trumpet
tea in curiosity and almost died (a friend burst
in on him convulsing on the bathroom floor
and the authorities assumed he was on an acid
trip). This plant is native to south America.
Water Hemlock

The poison hemlock famously
drunk by Socrates is deadly,
but the water hemlock is just as
fatal. According to the USDA,
water hemlock or poison
parsnip is “the most violently
toxic plant in North America”.
The flowers and stems are safe,
but the stalky roots contain
chambers that are full of a
deadly sap containing the
convulsant cicutoxin. Grand
mal seizures are followed by a
quick death if even a tiny
amount is consumed.
English Yew

The English Yew is one of the deadliest
trees on the planet. The evergreen has a
majestic and lush appearance and is
fairly common in forests of Europe. The
yew is considered by scientists to be an
odd and primitive conifer along with
the monkey puzzle tree of Chile and
Gingko biloba tree of Asia. The yew has
a rather sad history. All parts - save for
the flesh of the berries - are extremely
poisonous. Because the toxin causes
convulsions and paralysis, it was once
used as an abortifacient. Apothecaries
would dry and powder the leaves and
stems and give desperate women
minute amounts in the days before
birth control was available.
Unfortunately, death would often
result. This plant is no longer used for
any medical perpeses.
Snakeroot

Snakeroot is most dangerous for
livestock such as cattle and sheep.
When cows consume the
attractive fluffy white blooms and
stems of the snakeroot, their milk
and bones become saturated with
the toxin tremetol and humans
who consume these contaminated
animal products will develop
milk sickness (tremetol
poisoning). In fact, milk sickness
is what killed Abraham Lincoln’s
mother, Nancy Hanks.
Strychnine tree

Queen Cleopatra famously
forced servants to commit
suicide by means of a
strychnine tree’s fruit seeds,
which contain lethal levels of
strychnine and brucine, in
order to determine if it would
be the best means for her own
suicide. Upon seeing their
agony (which included painful
vomiting, facial contortions
and convulsions) she opted for
the apparently less horrific
choice of the asp. This plant is
native to southeast Asia.
Moonseed

A plant with often fatal
effects. The seeds of this
Eastern North American
drupe (stone fruit) are
extremely toxic to
humans, although birds
can eat them. Moonseeds
first cause paralysis but
are fatal in larger doses
and/or if treatment is not
sought immediately.
Daphne

This plant, also called the
spurge laurel, is a favorite
ornamental shrub in Europe.
This drupe-producing
evergreen with waxy, attractive
foliage and gorgeously fragrant
blooms is also highly toxic.
Consumption of the leaves or
red or yellow fruits will first
cause nausea and violent
vomiting, followed by internal
bleeding, coma and death. The
Daphne plant is rich in the
toxin mezerein. This plant is
native to Britain.
Monkshood

Another unassuming plant - until you
learn that the nickname for monkshood is
actually “WOLFSBANE”. That’s owing to
its once common use by farmers as a very
effective wolf extermination tool. The
monkshood has the distinction of evidently
being the bane of many creatures: its
nicknames include womensbane and
leopard’s bane, though it is also known as
blue rocket and devil’s helmet. It is
technically part of the aconitum genus, of
which there are more than 250 species. The
wolfsbane used to be a popular werewolf
detection tool, by the way. This is also what
some people take who have lycanthropy,
which in medical terms that means people
who think there “werewolves.” This drug
was used long ago to make people commit
horrendous murders.
Monkshood
Location
This plant typically grows in colder regions of the
northern hemisphere and has been seen all
within a few meters of the open north Atlantic.
Equipment and Clothing

Just make sure you have gloves and a
protective container to store these plants in.
Sources
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http://www.floridata.com/ref/R/rici_com.cfm
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/top
10_poisonous_plants-1.html
http://webecoist.com/2008/09/16/16-mostunassuming-yet-lethal-killer-plants/
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/23
License

No license is needed for these plants that I
now of.
Pros

You get to learn about all the deadly plants.
Cons

Your might some how get these poisons in
your body.
The HUNT!


Check online for areas that are most
populated with these plants.
When you get there just look around there
not going to run away.
Habitat

Depends on the plant.
Fitness
You need to be able to walk for long distance
in different climates and have a great deal
of patience.
What would this be like?

You could get up early or wait until night it
really doesn’t matter because there not
moving. Once you get to the spot where
they are said to be look around until you
find the plant your looking for then
depending on which plant it is, remove it
with the proper care.
Education

The only thing you need to know is what
part of the plant is poisonous and what
parts aren’t.
Interview

More than 12,000 children each year are
treated for ingesting exotic-looking toxic
plants they find in the house or yard. There
are 700 known poisonous plants in the
United States and dozens of these can be
found around the house.
By Rita Robinson