Deadly Flowers

Kalmia Latifolia
Commonly known as mountain laurel, the kalmia latifolia produces delicate pink and white flowers in the late spring. The beautiful flower which grows just about everywhere in the eastern part of the United States is the state flower of both Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Hidden behind its beauty is a dangerous toxin-andromedotoxin, that causes palpitations or abnormality of heartbeat. The andromedotoxin makes part of the heart to beat quickly and dangerously slowly. In large doses, the toxin destroys the sinoatrial node or the sinus node or the heart’s “pacemaker”. When the heart’s sinoatrial node is defective, the heart’s rhythms become abnormal – either too fast, too slow, or a combination, resulting to a sudden cardiac death. In smaller doses, the toxin induce severe vomiting, slow breathing, paralysis and sleep death or coma. Honeybees that have visited the flower can spread the poison that cause the “mad honey disease”.





Jacobaea Vulgaris
Jacobaea Vulgaris or ragwort, is a common wildflower, that plays an important role in the British ecosystem. Many species of insects get food from the plant and some directly feed on ragwort exclusively. Despite its environmental use, the plant is considered very harmful to humans according to experts. The World Health Organization has confirmed at least eight toxic alkaloids present in ragwort, and frequent exposure to the ragwort will build up poisons in the liver over time, resulting to cirrhosis. When the liver is destroyed, it will manifest health issues, and symptoms including loss of coordination, blindness, stabbing abdominal pains, and yellow eyes. As a major source of food for many insects, the toxin makes its way into our food like honey, as well as milk from goats that eat ragwort. Removing the ragwort from the fields require extreme caution as it can seep right into the skin of the hands.





Veratrum
Veratrum grows nearly on every mountain in the Northern Hemisphere, the plant put out gorgeous spiral clusters of white flowers. Every bit of this pretty plant, shouts death, from the roots to the pistils, is lethally toxic. Accidental ingestion of veratrum can be fatal as the plant species contain highly toxic steroidal alkaloids that activate sodium ion channels and cause rapid cardiac failure and death. The first symptom of veratrum poisoning is violent stomach cramping, when the toxins absorb into the bloodstream it cause convulsion and abnormality to the heartbeat. Veratrum poisoning also may cause heart attack or coma. According to some historians, veratrum poisoning caused the death of Alexander the Great. Veratrum species carry quite a number of names such as American False Hellebore, American White Hellebore, Bear Corn, Big Hellebore, Corn Lily, Devils Bite, Duck Retten, Indian Hellebore, Itch-weed, Itchweed, Poor Annie, Blue Hellebore, and Tickleweed.





Zantedeschia
Zantedeschia is a gorgeous perennial flowering plant that grown in every continent but Antarctica. It’s often referred as calla lily. The tube-shaped flowers have various colors, the bulbs could be white, or fiery orange, red, yellow, and even dark purple. Zantedeschia is one of those many species that contain the deadly calcium oxalate, a chemical that forms needle-like crystals inside internal organs. A tiny dose of the chemical is enough to cause swelling of the throat and damage to the airways.





Colchicum Autumnale
Colchicum autumnale grows wild across most of Europe and New Zealand and is native to the UK. It is commonly known as “naked lady”, a quite sexy name to mask something that is deadly. There is no known antidote for Colchicum poisoning but death, the chemical colchicine, is as lethal as arsenic. It shuts down of all of the body’s vital functions, resulting to failure of several organs, blood clots, and nerve disruptions. In small doses, the toxin could take up weeks to cause death, however in large doses, it can cause sudden death. Some people have compared Colchicum poisoning to cholera.





Laburnum
Another dangerous plant on this list is the Laburnum or commonly known as “golden chain,” which contains the chemical cytisine. In low doses, cytisine isn’t terribly harmful, but rather as a drug helps people quit smoking as it bonds to nicotinic receptors. The danger lies in ingesting large doses, which usually cause death. Laburnum poisoning usually involves children who eat either the flowers or the seed casings. The poison starts to work in minutes after ingestion, resulting to intense vomiting, convulsions, deep sleep or coma and death.





Cerbera Odollam
Cerbera odollam also known as the “suicide tree,” was the major culprit in a number of deaths in the southwest region of India between 1989 and 1999. Cerberin poising claimed at least 500 deaths in India within 10 years. The potent glycoside called cerberin starts working within an hour after ingestion. Symptoms of poisoning include stomach pain, “deep sleep,” and a sudden cardiac arrest. According to an Indian research team some homicide cases in India involve Cerbera odollam as the chemical cerberin that cause death becomes untraceable, making it a perfect murder weapon.






Sanguinaria Canadensis
Sanguinaria Canadensis or most commonly known as bloodroot, grows wild in most part of North America. The blood-red root is mainly used as ornamental dye but the Native Americans also used it to induce abortions. Bloodroot contains a chemical called sanguarine, and escharotic which are both dangerous toxins. Some people have used the plant to treat skin cancer, but with more damaging effects, as it literally kills the skin tissues and slough it off as a creamy pulp, leaving behind a dark black scar called an eschar. But when ingested, the chemical disrupts an enzyme that stimulates cells to pump out sodium. When the body has too much sodium, it leads to several health issues such as stroke, heart failure, kidney disease, even stomach cancer.





Adenium Obesum
Adenium obesum is native to Africa, and has been used as a weapon by tribes for centuries. The poison will be extracted from the plant, by boiling the flowers for 12 hours creating a highly concentrated liquid poison. All the weapons such as arrows and spears will be dipped into the liquid, making it very deadly. The Somali tribesmen used the poison to kill gigantic animals as large as elephants. The Adenium obesum or desert rose contains a chemical called ouabain, which causes immediate respiratory failure at high doses. Despite its danger to humans and other animals, some African crested rodents were immune to the poison.





Oenanthe Crocata
The water dropworts or Oenanthe lives in damp and mashy ground, this extremely poisonous plant resembles celery. The active poison being oenanthotoxin is concentrated in the stems of the plant. The leaves may be eaten safely by livestock, but the stems, and especially the carbohydrate-rich roots are much more poisonous. One root is sufficient to kill a cow, and human fatalities are also known. It has been referred to as the most poisonous of all British plants and is considered particularly dangerous because of its similarity to several edible plants such as Chinese celery or Japanese parsley.