Moonseed
This bright red delicious looking moonseed plant is normally found in the Eastern North America and south-central Canada. It crops up in brushes, damp forests, and the shores of streams. It is called ‘moonseed’ as the seed within the berry looks like a crescent moon. The whole outlook of this plant is pretty tempting. And its fruit is often mistaken by people as ripe and luscious looking wild grapes or even baby cherries. And even though birds can eat them, this fruit and its seeds are extremely fatal to humans. The initial effect of it is paralysis, and that too if consumed in a smaller quantity. A larger dose literally kills you. The reason why it is so deadly is the amount of toxin alkaloid in it. But that is not all. The entire plant is actually poisonous.
Give me the splendid, silent sun, with all his beams full dazzling.
Castor bean plant
The castor bean is a very handsome plant. It is a shrub-like herb with very long stemmed leaves which look more like flinging long fingers. Castor beans are in point of fact true beans but poisonous. The prickly seedpods contain the beans. The seeds are very appealing as they have brilliant colorful markings on them. The seeds are actually a combination of the most terrible poisons like volatile oils, resins, alkaloids and glycoside. But that is not the only part of the plant to be fatal. Every part of the plant is actually toxic as it contains sap, the most venomous poison. People commonly misjudge their appearance as these seedpods resemble capers. If consumed in a little proportion, causes vomiting, nausea, and/or diarrhea. But a high amount causes uncontrollable salivation; convulsions; and sometimes, coma and death.
Devil’s Berries
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Not all nightshade plants are poisonous, since the name itself is pretty mystifying and give the sound of gloom. But this breed of the nightshade called the ‘devil’s berries’ or the ‘deathly cherries’ are perhaps the deadliest plant on earth today. They are commonly found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. This shrubbery plant and its berries are tremendously toxic, and contain atropine alkaloids. These poisons include scopolamine and hyoscyamine which cause a peculiar disorientation and phantasm. The berries look so attractive and sweet that people and animals are often attracted to them, especially since they contain a rather sweet taste. In older times, they were even used in wars where these berries were attached to the tips of arrows to kill the enemies. Intake of a sole leaf of the plant can be lethal to an adult.
Most plants possess hidden qualities which chance discovers.
Catherine Wheel
More famous as the ‘Blood flower plant’ but also famed as the ‘Catherine Wheel’, ‘a Poison Root’ or even ‘Fireball Lily’, is highly toxic and potentially lethal. The stunning flower head is a huge sphere-shaped umbel consisting of up to 200 flowers. The plant is found in Africa, in lowlands, woodlands, is often found in the shade of trees growing along riverbanks. and only seen in the greenhouses in Europe. The plant is hideously dangerous. It is alkaloid- rich, strongly toxic plant. Its attraction apart from its wholesome appealing firework-like look is its spoon-shaped leaves, deep green in color, with distinct ribs and a windswept surface. But weirdly, all parts of the plant are poisonous, particularly the roots and the seeds.
Rosary pea plant
Almost any garden, if you see it at just the right moment, can be confused with paradise.
Rosary pea and its wide range are found in India and parts of Asia. The flowers in its plant are tiny, pale, and purplish-blue to crimson, gathered in leaf axils. Its seeds are of such magnificently similar size and shape that they are often used in jewelry making. But a fact is that it is one of the most deadly plants of the world. The intensely red berries are really attractive. They hold within them seeds, which all contain a lectin poison called abrin, so poisonous that, if ingested or crushed may result in almost immediate death. Abrin is actually one of the most fatal known poisons. It triggers rigorous nausea, high fever, and slobbering, highly prominent levels of nervous tension, liver failure, bladder failure, eyes bleeding and paroxysmal seizures. This decorative plant is truly deadly.
Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose.
