Don’t get easily deceived by what you see. Plants may bear the most beautiful flowers and luscious fruits, yet there are some of them that also produce potent amounts of toxins that are deadly even to humans. Often, these plants have vivid colors that are no more than nature’s own way of self-preservation and survival.
Here are 12 of the most poisonous plants found in nature and the potentially lethal effects they cause on anyone who gets in contact with them.
1. Castor Oil Plant
The beans from the castor oil plant contain some of the most powerful toxins in this planet’s flora. These are the alkaloid ricinin and toxalbumin ricin, the latter being even more poisonous than cyanides and strychnos. Worse, the toxins have the ability to accumulate inside the body until the lethal amount is reached.
The castor oil plant or Ricinus communis holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for being the most poisonous plant. Ingesting about four to eight seeds of castor oil plant can result to burning sensations inside the mouth and throat and severe abdominal pain. A bloody diarrhea may follow within one and a half day and can cause death in a short period of three days if not properly treated. All parts of the plant are poisonous.
2. Poison Hemlock
The poison hemlock or Conium maculatum is said to be widely used as means of execution in ancient Greece. It is responsible for the death of the philosopher Socrates. The plant contains coniine and pyridine-type alkaloids in its roots and seeds. Young poison hemlock plants also contain these toxins. These substances cause death by attacking the neuromuscular junctions of the body, thereby causing paralysis. The paralysis often affects the leg parts then ascends to the respiratory muscles, causing death.
3. Cicuta or Water Hemlock
The water hemlock is said to be the most poisonous plant in North America. It contains a compound named cicutoxin, a chemical mostly found in its root system. A small mouthful is sufficient to kill an adult. This potent neurotoxin can cause nausea, respiratory impairment, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, kidney failure, seizures, tremors, and death. In fact, it can lead to cattle death in a matter of 15 minutes.
4. The Suicide Tree
Cerbera odollam, or the suicide tree, is a plant used for committing suicide and murder, perhaps more popular than any other poisonous plants. This plant, which grows in India and Southeast Asia, contains a potent compound called cerberin, which has the ability to disrupt heartbeat by blocking calcium ion channels in the heart. Cerberin is a perfect weapon for murder by poisoning, because its flavor can be easily disguised in food.
5. Monkshood or Aconitum Napellus
Some species of the Monkshood or Aconitum napellus genus have long been used in hunting and warfare particularly in the preparations of poison-tipped arrows. This plant contains aconitine neurotoxin and cardiotoxins. If ingested, it can lead to motor weakness, gastrointestinal complications, and paralysis of the lung and heart. One can be poisoned when the substance gets absorbed through an open wound or broken skin. This plant has an unpleasant bitter taste, which is why accidental poisoning may be very rare.
6. White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)
The white snakeroot plant contains a toxic substance called tremetol, which when ingested, can result to vomiting, trembling, and serious problems in the intestines. The toxin is so potent that secondary ingestion can cause death.
If cattle graze on this plant, its milk will carry the toxin. In the 19th century, this plant is said to have caused thousands of death when people have consumed the milk of cattle that have ingested this plant. Among those who died was the mother of Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Hanks Lincoln.
7. Oleander (Nerium oleander)
The Oleander contains a substance called cardiac glycosides, which can be therapeutic in certain well-measured doses but can also be deadly when ingested inappropriately. This decorative shrub is one of the most poisonous. All of its parts – the flowers, the leaves, and fruits–contain toxins that can cause no less than a cardiac arrest. One can also get poisoned by consuming honey made by bees that have obtained nectar from the oleander plant.
8. Angel’s Trumpet or Datura
Angel’s trumpet or Datura, which belongs to the genus Brugmansia, contains doses of the so-called tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, as well as atropine mostly in the flowers and seeds. If ingested, the effects can include paralysis, confusion, diarrhea, hallucinations, and amnesia. The herbaceous plant has a history of being used in inducing delirious states and even death.
9. Crab’s Eye or Rosary Pea
The crab’s eye or Abrus precatorius is a plant native to Indonesia with seeds that contain abrin, an extremely poisonous chemical. It causes damage by attacking the body’s functions at the cellular level. Specifically, it affects ribosomes, which are important in synthesizing proteins in the body. One seed is said to be deadly enoughfor humans.
10. Dumbcane or Dieffenbachia
The Dieffenbachia is an indoor plant that contains needle-formed calcium oxalate crystals. When leaves of this plant get ingested, they can cause irritation and swelling in the mouth. In some cases, the irritation gets so severe that the tissues get swollen, blocking the airways.
11. Manchineel Tree
The manchineel tree, also known as “little apple of death” or “poison guava” is a poisonous plant that you should be wary of. An accidental contact with this plant and its sap can produce a severe anaphylactic shock or allergic reaction. This is because the plant contains a chemical called phorbol, which has powerful irritating effects.
To make things worse, if you burn the manchineel tree, its smoke can cause blindness if it reaches your eyes. The fruit of the tree is also fatal, for its physostignmine content can result in complications that include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and seizures.
The leaves of rhododendron are toxic. The plant contains a toxic material called grayanotoxin in the pollen and nectar. Therefore, honey that is made from its nectar is also said to be poisonous. The symptoms include mouth burn, salivation, vomiting, tingling sensation in the skin, and diarrhea. Other effects include weak muscles, headaches, and blur vision. It can also slow down heart beat and can put you in a coma. This plant can kill a horse within a few hours of ingesting it.