April Showers Bring....

May is officially underway...whoa...rhyming!

Can you believe it? 5 more months until October...and you know what October brings! Magic, Mania, and Monster Bash!
We're more than halfway now! I can't wait! Have you thought of your costume yet? I finally have figured mine out. It came to me while I was blogging the other day, so thank you Monster Bash Blog for inspiring me!

So for the first blog of May, I was trying to play around with the whole idea of "April showers bring May flowers"...but I couldn't think of anything witty or clever. I was trying "April showers bring May scours" but then I wasn't really sure what "scours" meant...something about diarrhea and lamb illness? And I didn't like "May sours"...so it just got to be too messy.

Instead, I'd like to take the idea of pretty May flowers...and make it a little more spoOoOoOoOooky:

I give you....

Deadly flowers!

Wikipedia, my good friend, has an incomplete, yet comprehensive list of poisonous plants, as does LiveScience.com with their "Top 10" List.

Associated Content also had a list of 4 deadly types of flowers.

Now, I'm no Botanist, but I'm going to attempt to discuss a few deadly folliage offenders here...feel free to add to the list!

Water Hemlock:

is a flowering poisonous plant that is sometimes mistaken for the delicious parsnip...except for the fact that it can kill you. The poison in the plant, cicutoxin, causes death by the rapid distruction of the central nervous system. Ingestion of water hemlock is "fatal when swallowed, causing violent and painful convulsions" (Wikipedia.org). Hemlock all around isn't too great, because another type, called "Poison Hemlock" works similarly by taking out the CNS (check out my biology terms!), but with a poison similar to that of nicotine (quit smoking!), called coniine.


Rhododendron

Species of this plant can be toxic to animals like horses and other "grazing" animals. For humans, the honey made from bees feeding off the pollen of these plants can have a hallucinogenic and laxative effect. The culprit of these plants? Grayanotoxin.


Lily-of-the-Valley

Apparently, all parts of this flower are poisonous. So stop right there with your L-O-T-V love. Look but don't ingest.

Foxglove

I swear I've heard the name of the thing found in Foxglove...it's called digoxin. I remember hearing something about people giving digitoxin (from digoxin) to horses? Or maybe it was people? Perhaps in a Lifetime movie or two? Maybe I'm wrong. I probably am, but still...digoxin is some serious stuff, because it not only causes some horrible effects upon ingestion, it also affects the heart. Foxglove is highly poisonous....hence why it's on my list!

Oleander

Isn't this also the name of a deer or a band or something? Oleander is highly poisonous, and in small amounts, is lethal. Especially to young children. Oleandrin and neriine are two toxic components of oleander. Wikipedia gives a great description of just what this plant does.

Wolf's Bane

According to Wikipedia, the first effects of Wolf's bane occurs in the gastrointestinal area-mouth, stomach, throat, etc. After an hour, you begin vomitting and everything begins to shut down. Eventually, the pulse slows and you die from asphyxia. Not pleasant.

Nightshade

Nightshade sounds scary. Is there a band named "Death by Nightshade"? Seriously, what a great name. I just googled and there isn't...so if you decide to name your screamo/death metal/progressive rock/whatever band "DBN", please include me, Monster Bash Blog, in the liner notes...thanks.

Anyway, botanical.com even agrees that nightshade is DEADLY. So take that.

So, I know you're riveted at this amazing list of poisonous plants but I bet that the main question on your mind is: "what's the worst plant?" Well, look no further. I mean, it's open to interpretation, but according to a bunch of places I searched, the Castor Bean is considered the world's most deadly plant.
Ricin, a poison found in the Castor Bean (which grows to the Caster Oil Plant)

can be deadly if consumed...even in small quantities. The Castor Bean was considered by the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records to be the most poisonous plant in the world.
Honestly, Ricin is no joke. Read here about these related ricin incidents. Even though there's a vaccine for ricin poisoning, survivors may suffer long-term organ damage! AHHHH!

Not enough deadly plant info for you? Here are some other ones to check out:

Narcissus
Chrysanthemum
Anthurium
Wisteria
Ficus


Deadly flowers and plants are no strangers to the box office either.

We've got Little Shop of Horrors:



I mean, not really scary...but still...deadly plant...

The Ruins:



Which I discussed way back when.

And then there's another one called "The Day of the Triffids":



Which is about a meteor hitting the planet, everyone goes blind, and are attacked by experimental plants/aliens.

IFC made a great list of movie plant villains.

And of course...MY favorite deadly plant?


So be careful the next time you're out there stopping to smell the flowers...spoOoOooOoOoOky!

**All pictures linked from Photobucket.com**