JennyC wrote:
And just to confuse you even more...................
http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/

Cannabis? Well I never ... someone must call Frank!

"luke" wrote in message
ups.com...
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a
stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is
the castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say
it deadly nightshade
(atropa belladona) i just dont know

Not the *most* poisonous, but a genus I avoid assiduously is the Rhus
(Poison Ivy family). Even the ubiquitous Stag's Horn Sumach has been
said to put nursery workers in hospital, though I have no confirmation
of this.
I can speak for a very unpleasant personal experience with a less
common one, R. verniciflua - this is the plant the Japanese laquer was
made from. The trees I encountered were already dead when I started
work here just over 30 years ago, in my innocence I started cutting
them up for firewood. The yellowish coloured wood exudes a black tarry
substance and we all got it on our hands and clothes. I and my then
teenage daughter reacted very severely, whole body swelling, violently
itching rash, closed eyes - luckily no blocked airways. I couldn't
walk or drive and sensitive areas didn't clear until treated with
steroid cream. All the doc could do was to say was that something
hadn't agreed with us and prescribe the cream. Given the violence of
the reaction I have considered it very unwise to risk contact with
anything similar since. My wife was unaffected.
--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp

In message , Sacha
writes
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
. com, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know

Almost certainly Ricinus, the castor bean, the castor oil plant. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.


It need not have been all that toxic. Ness Botanic Gardens had Deadly
Nightshade and Hensbane growing accesible to all and sundry, but the
Giant Hogweed was immured behind a double fence.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , Bob Hobden
writes

"luke" wrote
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know

I would have thought some of the Fungi would be the most poisonous plants in
the world but it depends on your criteria, are you asking for the quickest,
the most certain, the nastiest......
The "Destroying Angel" or "Deaths Cap" toadstool will kill you slowly and
painfully over about a week as your vital organs close down, and there is
not much chance of survival after the symptoms show which is some
considerable time after eating them.

See http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap40.html and Amatoxins half way down.

Fungi are not considered to be plants anymore. In fact, the consensus
(the situation is not completely clear cut) is that fungi are more
closely related to animals that to plants.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In article ,
Stewart Robert Hinsley writes:
|
| Fungi are not considered to be plants anymore. In fact, the consensus
| (the situation is not completely clear cut) is that fungi are more
| closely related to animals that to plants.

If I understand it, that is clear-cut compared to the opinions on
cellular slime-moulds, let alone plasmodial ones!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sacha wrote:
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world.

.. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.

Sounds a case of alloah - goodbyah.

Sacha wrote:
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world.

.. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.

Sounds a case of alloah - goodbyah.

sam wrote:
Sacha wrote:
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world.

. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.

Sounds a case of alloah - goodbyah.

Please forgive my stammer..

Sacha writes
On 4/12/06 00:06, in article ,
"Duncan" wrote:


"luke" wrote in message
ups.com...
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know


Castor bean seems a good candidate, but some other nasties include Oleander
(said to be able to kill if twigs are used as barbecue skewers) and
monkshood (but I'm still here despite my parents having a garden full of
this).

Alnwick garden have a good poisonous plants collection, and apparently
someone was hospitalised after just sniffing the henbane.

but Nicotiana probably kills more than all the other poisonous plants put
together.

Have there been any reported cases in UK?

I presume he's referring to deaths from the cured dried leaves.

What exactly is meant by 'the most toxic'? The one which has killed the
most? The one with the highest concentration of the poisonous substance?
--
Kay

On 4/12/06 20:31, in article , "sam"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world.

. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.

Sounds a case of alloah - goodbyah.

Possibly. If it was Aloha.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 4/12/06 21:45, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
On 4/12/06 00:06, in article ,
"Duncan" wrote:


"luke" wrote in message
ups.com...
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know


Castor bean seems a good candidate, but some other nasties include Oleander
(said to be able to kill if twigs are used as barbecue skewers) and
monkshood (but I'm still here despite my parents having a garden full of
this).

Alnwick garden have a good poisonous plants collection, and apparently
someone was hospitalised after just sniffing the henbane.

but Nicotiana probably kills more than all the other poisonous plants put
together.

Have there been any reported cases in UK?

I presume he's referring to deaths from the cured dried leaves.

Of what? He asked for the most toxic plant. My reply has been snipped so
as to alter its original meaning. I wrote: " Have there been any reported
cases in UK? I didn't think anyone had died of accidental plant poisoning
(according to the RHS) for a very long time."
I was not referring to Nicotiana or any other plant speifically.

What exactly is meant by 'the most toxic'? The one which has killed the
most? The one with the highest concentration of the poisonous substance?

What would be your thinking?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 4/12/06 18:36, in article lid, "Stewart Robert
Hinsley" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know

Almost certainly Ricinus, the castor bean, the castor oil plant. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.


It need not have been all that toxic. Ness Botanic Gardens had Deadly
Nightshade and Hensbane growing accesible to all and sundry, but the
Giant Hogweed was immured behind a double fence.

WHAT might not have been all that toxic? I don't know which plants were in
that enclosure. All we were told was "don't even think about getting off
the bus", which was one of those open sided things. I can't remember the
name of the garden just now - McKinlay, perhaps? I'll look it up tomorrow.
But that particular area of that garden was used in experimentation with
toxic plans and quite understandably, they didn't want the public wandering
around in it. If I can find it online tomorrow I might be able to be more
specific and for now, I'm sorry to be so vague!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Sacha writes
On 4/12/06 21:45, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes
On 4/12/06 00:06, in article ,
"Duncan" wrote:


"luke" wrote in message
ups.com...
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know


Castor bean seems a good candidate, but some other nasties include Oleander
(said to be able to kill if twigs are used as barbecue skewers) and
monkshood (but I'm still here despite my parents having a garden full of
this).

Alnwick garden have a good poisonous plants collection, and apparently
someone was hospitalised after just sniffing the henbane.

but Nicotiana probably kills more than all the other poisonous plants put
together.

Have there been any reported cases in UK?

I presume he's referring to deaths from the cured dried leaves.

Of what? He asked for the most toxic plant.

Not the OP - I meant the guy who mentioned the Nicotiana

My reply has been snipped so
as to alter its original meaning. I wrote: " Have there been any reported
cases in UK? I didn't think anyone had died of accidental plant poisoning
(according to the RHS) for a very long time."
I was not referring to Nicotiana or any other plant speifically.

In that case I misunderstood you - you inserted your reply straight
after the Nicotiana comment and I understood you to be referring to
that.

What exactly is meant by 'the most toxic'? The one which has killed the
most? The one with the highest concentration of the poisonous substance?

What would be your thinking?

Just that it's not easy to answer the question without clarifying the
definition. Probably what is meant is the plant which requires least of
the plant to kill, but one could argue that something which kills
quickly is more toxic than something which takes longer to kill. And the
statistics are likely to highlight the ones which have caused most
deaths, which are not necessarily the most toxic, because other factors
come in, like how common the plant is, how attractive it is, how easily
mistaken for edible things, etc.

--
Kay

Sacha wrote:

On 3/12/06 20:20, in article
, "luke"
wrote:

i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know

Almost certainly Ricinus, the castor bean, the castor oil plant. But when
we were in Kauai, Hawaii, we toured a garden and there was one area where
nobody was allowed off the bus because ALL the surrounding plants were
highly toxic and part of a research project, IIRC.

Some of the nastier plants that have mastered organofluorine chemistry
that are native to South Africa and Australia are not to be trifled
with. See for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoroacetate

But my vote is still for Ricinus seeds.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Duncan wrote:

"luke" wrote in message
ups.com...
i have been doing research into poisonous plants and i have hit a stone

what is the MOST toxic plant in the world. some websites say it is the
castor bean some say it is the roseary pea but some people say it
deadly nightshade(atropa belladona) i just dont know

Castor bean seems a good candidate, but some other nasties include Oleander
(said to be able to kill if twigs are used as barbecue skewers) and
monkshood (but I'm still here despite my parents having a garden full of
this).

Alnwick garden have a good poisonous plants collection, and apparently
someone was hospitalised after just sniffing the henbane.

I am not surprised. I was there on a warm still summers day and the
smell of it was unpleasant and overpowering. I had to move away from it
while the guide prattled on.

but Nicotiana probably kills more than all the other poisonous plants put
together.

It used to kill the people who smuggled the leaves in olden days (nasty
way to go).

Regards,
Martin Brown