• From plants that make you vomit uncontrollably to an everyday flower
that can kill you, we count nine of the deadliest plants on earth!
9 – Belladonna, • With nicknames like ‘Devil’s berries’
and ‘deadly nightshade’, it was inevitable that the Belladonna plant would make this
list. Native to Europe and Africa, this plant and the delicious berries it produces are
super poisonous. • Ingesting any part of this plant will
make a person delirious and cause whacky hallucinations. Its huge list of symptoms includes slurred
speech, headaches, poor vision, breathing difficulties and convulsions. Oh, and if you’re
a child you can add instant death to that list. Without an antidote, anyone who eats
this will eventually die as their body’s involuntary reflexes shut down. Say goodbye
to breathing and regulated heart rates! • Although it’s unbelievable, women in
the Victorian era actually used nightshade in their beauty regimes! They applied droplets
to their eyes so that their pupils would dilate. This was considered a ‘dreamy’ look. I
guess back then looking tripped out and near-death was the height of sexiness!
8 – Daffodils, • The sight of a sunny daffodil means spring
has officially arrived. Picking up a bouquet of these beautiful flowers seems like a thoughtful
gesture for that special someone, but it turns out that daffodils can be deadly.
• Their bulb and leaves contain toxic alkaloids, which cause dizziness, abdominal pain, convulsions,
and even death if eaten. You might be thinking, ‘Well, okay, but who’d be dumb enough
to eat a daffodil?’ It actually happens a lot – especially with children and animals
around. • In fact, in the Netherlands during World
War II, farmers unthinkingly poisoned their own cattle by feeding them daffodil bulbs.
The moral? Daffodils are nice in a vase; not in your mouth.
7 – Rosary Pea, • The Rosary Pea is one versatile little
plant! Not only is it nice to look at but natives from Indonesia use it to make beads
and percussion instruments. This musical plant is known as a climber, which basically means
it grows on and around other trees, shrubs and hedges.
• Unfortunately, the Rosary Pea also a dark side. Its seeds secrete the poison abrin,
which is a whopping seventy-five times stronger than similar plant-based poisons. It takes
very little of this poison to kill a full-grown adult – just three micrograms will do it.
• Even the production of Rosary beads is dangerous, with people dying just from pricking
their fingers on drill bits that had touched the seeds. If you’re a budding botanist
maybe avoid this one… 6 – White Snakeroot,
• This innocent-looking herb is found all over North America and is best remembered
as the plant that killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy. It’s called white snakeroot
and basically looks like a cluster of white flowers.
• White snakeroot contains a highly toxic alcohol called trematol. Obviously ingesting
trematol will kill you, but that’s not even how Nancy died! She merely drank the milk
of a cow that had grazed on snakeroot! • Fortunately farmers are now aware of this
danger, so they get rid of any white snakeroot growing in animal pastures.
5 – Oleander, • If someone gets you a plant for a housewarming
gift, make sure it’s not an oleander shrub! This crazy common decorative plant can cause
instant cardiac arrest if you touch it or put any part of it in your mouth.
• You can find this fragrant but deadly bush in parks, schools, and at backyard BBQs
all over the world. And in a disturbing new trend people in India have been consuming
crushed Oleander seeds to commit suicide. • The funny thing about oleander is that
its cardiac glycosides chemicals can actually be therapeutic if you take them in exact doses.
But get that balance wrong and you’ll be high-fiving the Grim Reaper.
4 – Manchineel, • The flowering Manchineel plant is easily
one of the most poisonous trees in existence. In fact its Spanish name literally means ‘little
apple of death’. • Found in the Bahamas, Caribbean, and various
parts of North and South America, the Manchineel produces tiny fruits that will bring slow
agonising death to any person or animal that eats it. The tree also produces a clear sap
whenever it rains. Touching this sap will cause a person’s skin to instantly blister!
• You might think, ‘Okay, these trees are just too deadly to exist; let’s burn
them all down!’ But nope, that won’t work. Almost like a defence mechanism, a burning
manchineel releases deadly toxic fumes that cause blindness and lung problems to anyone
nearby. The best you can do is to steer clear of them. As a precaution, locals mark manchineel
tree with big red Xs. 3 – Water Hemlock,
• If you paid attention in history class, you may remember that the famous Greek philosopher
Socrates was executed using a poisonous plant called hemlock. Well, I now introduce you
to hemlock’s equally dangerous cousin, water hemlock. Described as ‘the most violently
toxic plant in North America’, water hemlock is a wildflower in the carrot family and is
sometimes mistaken for celery or parsnips. • The main difference? Celery is good for
your teeth, while water hemlock will instantly kill you! This is because water hemlock is
full of deadly cicutoxins that cause agonising cramps and seizures to anyone who eats it.
• Most people who eat or touch it die. Even the survivors don’t get off scot-free! They
suffer horrible memory loss and tremors that can persist for the rest of their lives.
2 – Castor Plants, • Growing up, did your parents force-feed
you spoonfuls of disgusting castor oil and tell you it’s good for you? If so it’s
probably because they hate you and want to see you dead. I’m kidding – sort of – but
it turns out that while this oil itself is harmless the plant it comes from is one of
the most poisonous in the world. • You see, castor plants are loaded with
deadly toxins called ricin. The plant’s seeds are the most concentrated source, and
ingesting even a single one will kill a person in forty-eight hours. If you think it’ll
be a peaceful way to go, you’re dead wrong. Victims experience a burning sensation in
their throat, followed by bouts of painful vomiting and bloody diarrhoea. Eventually
they’ll drop dead out of dehydration. Sounds fun, right?
• Castor plants are native to India and eastern Africa, so keep your wits about you
if you go to these places. They currently hold the Guinness World Record for most poisonous
plant. 1 – Jimsonweed,
• With a name like ‘jimsonweed’ you might think this plant sounds pretty darn
harmless. But with nicknames like ‘angel’s trumpet’ and ‘devil’s weed’ it’s
clear this plant is more dangerous than it seems.
• This trumpet-shaped flower originated in South America but can now be pretty much
found anywhere. It comes in a range of sizes and colours – from deadly orange to deadly
pink – and it’s covered in these gross fine hairs. Every single part of this plant
contains the toxins tropane alkaloids scopolamine and atropine, so just don’t touch it. Don’t
even breathe near it. • Of course, many stupid people like making
tea from this plant and ingesting it like a hallucinogenic drug. Some get away with
it because the toxicity levels can vary from plant to plant, but it’s basically like
playing Russian Roulette. While chasing this natural high, many people have slipped into
permanent comas or overdosed. It’s why South Africans call the seeds of this plant ‘mad
seeds’.
I got a new question for you guys. What's the weirdest thing you've ever caught your
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