26.08.2016
Venom is not only a weapon of snakes and arthropods. A large number of plant species growing around the world contain toxins that are deadly not only for animals, but also for humans, writes UKROP with reference to kykyryzo.
Below is a list of the ten most poisonous plants in the world.
10. Oleander 
Oleander is an evergreen perennial low-growing shrub native to India. Also common in East Asian countries. It can often be found near dry river beds and streams. Grows up to 2–6 m in height. Cultivated as an ornamental plant that blooms with red, white, yellow and pink fragrant flowers. Oleander is used in medicine, especially for cardiovascular diseases. Widely used all over the world to decorate gardens and parks. Blooms in summer. All its parts are poisonous and contain oleandrin, cornerin and other cardiac glycosides, which, if ingested, cause severe colic, vomiting, diarrhea and can cause cardiac arrest. They say that even the smoke from a burning oleander is poisonous. It is the flower symbol of the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
9. Manchineel tree 
The manchineel tree is a species of flowering plant native to Central America (Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas), as well as Venezuela and Colombia. In the wild, it can be found on coastal beaches and in brackish swamps among mangrove trees. The manchineel tree grows up to 15 meters in height. All parts contain strong toxins, especially the fruit and milky white juice - one drop on the skin can cause blisters, dermatitis, swelling or burns. No wonder the manchineel tree is called the “little apple of death.”
8. Vekh 
Vöh is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows up to 2.5 meters tall and is distinguished by small green or white flowers arranged in an umbrella shape. As a rule, they grow in damp meadows and other damp and swampy places. Three of the four types contain a powerful toxin (cicutoxin) that causes rhabdomyolysis, characterized by the destruction of muscle cells and the development of acute renal failure.
7. Brugmansia snow-white 
Brugmansia alba is a species of perennial flowering plant native to the tropical forests of South America. These are small trees and shrubs that contain psychoactive substances. Cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the world. They can reach a height of 3–11 m. All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous, especially the seeds and leaves. They contain atropine, tropane alkaloids, and scopolamine. When entering the human body, it leads to muscle paralysis, confusion, tachycardia, diarrhea, headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, mydriasis, cycloplegia and even death.
6. Ageratina highest 
Ageratina algae is a perennial plant native to eastern and central North America. Grows up to 1.5 m in height. Used medicinally, particularly against snake bites. Ageratina algae is poisonous; it contains the toxin tremetol, which, once ingested, causes convulsions, vomiting and leads to serious intestinal disorders. It is surprising that a person who eats meat or drinks the milk of a poisoned animal can develop all the symptoms of poisoning, and even die.
5. Belladonna 
Belladonna is a perennial plant up to 1.5 m high. It grows in deciduous moist forests, mainly in open areas in North Africa, Europe and Western Asia. All its parts are poisonous, and the highest concentration of toxic alkaloids is found in the roots and fruits. Symptoms of belladonna poisoning in humans include hallucinations, lack of recognition of the environment, photophobia, speech impairment, and ultimately loss of consciousness and death from respiratory paralysis.
4. Aconite 
Aconite or Fighter is a genus of poisonous perennial plants common in Europe, Asia and North America. I grow about 1 meter in height. Used in medicine. Some species are grown as ornamental. Blooms in July-September. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous and contain an alkaloid - aconitine, which, when ingested, causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, dizziness, difficulty breathing, headache, and confusion. The main causes of death are ventricular asystole, paralysis of the heart or respiratory center. Poisoning can also occur through skin contact; aconitine - easily absorbed through the skin.
3. Cerberus 
Cerberus is a genus of evergreen small plants native to tropical Asia, Australia, Madagascar, and various islands located in the Indian Ocean. Due to its toxicity, the genus was named after the dog Cerberus from Greek mythology. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous: they contain cerberine, a substance that blocks electrical impulses in the body (including heart rate). Even the smoke released when burning Cerberus can cause severe poisoning and lead to death.
The second place in the ranking of the most poisonous plants in the world is taken by Prayer beetle - a poisonous plant native to India. Cultivated in many countries with tropical climates. Grows up to 10 m in height. Its seeds contain a toxic substance - abrin, which is especially dangerous when in contact with open wounds and eyes. Even ingestion of one seed can be fatal for an adult. Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, seizures, liver failure, and death, usually within a few days.
1. Castor bean 
Castor bean is a plant species widely distributed in regions with tropical and subtropical climates. It is also cultivated in many countries around the world and is widely used as an ornamental plant in parks and other public places. Castor bean is an evergreen shrub up to 10 m high. All its parts are poisonous and contain ricin and the alkaloid ricinin, which are lethal to humans in a dose of more than 0.2 g. Ingestion of plant seeds causes enteritis, vomiting and colic, bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, water-electrolyte imbalance and death after 5–7 days.
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In Volyn, six people have already suffered from hogweed this year. Previously, it was believed that this plant would boost agriculture...
Anyone who has heard of such an insidious plant as hogweed, which resembles a giant dill when flowering, avoids it on the tenth route. And those who haven’t heard can seriously suffer from it, since hogweed juice deprives the skin of protection from ultraviolet radiation, which leads to very severe sunburn. Unfortunately, such a misfortune happened to the publishing editor of Ukrinform Viktor Zhovanyk, who was helping his parents in the Sumy region uproot weeds and came across hogweed. Not paying attention to the slight redness on the body, our colleague went to work for another week, and after spending the weekend in the sun, he received very severe skin damage. Now he is undergoing treatment in one of the Kiev hospitals, and the entire team wishes him a speedy recovery, but since this has happened, Ukrinform decided to find out in more detail what the insidiousness of this plant is and whether it can be eradicated, because people in Ukraine have been stumbling upon it for many years .
The story of one burn: at least a week in the hospital, six months to renew the skin
Hogweed grows up to three meters high, it has large leaves resembling dissected burdock, and umbrella-shaped flowers. The plant produces brown sap that is poisonous to humans. Victor says that although after a while he felt the skin on his hands burning, he thought it was from nettles or ants. “After a week everything started to heal, but over the weekend I went on a picnic with my family and that evening both my arms were swollen, the skin was burning and throbbing, and blisters the size of grapes had formed. At the emergency room they said that the burns are very serious, so they need to be treated only in a hospital,” says our colleague. And this is a difficult process.
This is what hogweed burns look like after exposure to the sun. First, the blisters resulting from the burn are cut so that liquid does not accumulate there, and the skin is treated and bandaged tightly. Then - dressings, ointments, droppers, pills. “I was diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis, that is, inflammation of the skin, and I need to carefully follow all the doctors’ recommendations, because this inflammation can spread to undamaged areas of the skin,” says Victor. Now his colleague is feeling better, he says that he hopes to be discharged in a week, but adds that the skin affected by the burns will be able to recover in about six months.
Doctors, meanwhile, warn: if hogweed juice gets on your skin, you need to thoroughly rinse these areas and try not to expose them to direct sunlight for 2-3 days. If a burn occurs, seek medical help immediately. Elena Bachinskaya, an allergist at the Kyiv City Allergy Center, says that patients rarely come in with cases of burns or allergic reactions from plants - in the summer there are several such calls per month. “If a small local reaction occurs due to contact with some plant, then a person can simply take an antihistamine tablet and everything will go away. If the reaction is strong, intoxication of the body is observed, you should go to the doctor immediately,” says the doctor.
Hog parsnip was supposed to raise the agriculture of the USSR to its feet
Due to the invasion of the dangerous hogweed, the Volyn region is now especially suffering - this year 6 Volyn residents have already been hospitalized with its burns, about which Wolin Post reports. As we now know, it grows in the Sumy region, and also, according to colleagues, along the roads of the Kyiv region. But hogweed is most common in the western regions, as well as in Polesie. It grows mainly in moist places: on river banks and in floodplain forests, as well as in meadows, along roads and railways. Ukrinform decided to ask biologists how this poisonous plant got into Ukraine, since it became known only during the Soviet Union.
Miroslav Shevera, Candidate of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Botany named after. N.G. Kholodny NAS of Ukraine As he says Miroslav Shevera, Candidate of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Botany named after. N.G. Kholodny NAS of Ukraine, two poisonous species of this plant are widespread on the territory of Ukraine: Sosnovsky's hogweed and Mantegazzi's hogweed, both native to the Caucasus. Sosnovsky's hogweed appeared in Ukraine in 1949, it was brought from Kabardino-Balkaria (northern Caucasus) and was first sown in the botanical garden named after. Grishko. “Over time, it began to be cultivated at agricultural stations, in particular in the 60s in Transcarpathia. It was a large program to increase productivity, in which hogweed was used as a green fertilizer,” says Miroslav Ševera.
At the end of the 70s, Soviet scientists found another use for hogweed - as an additive to livestock feed, and its active cultivation began again in the western regions. “But literally within a few years they noticed that the cows didn’t like it very much, and their milk had a bitter taste, so over time they stopped using it for this purpose,” says the scientist. Another species, Hogweed Mantegazzi, was brought to Ukraine in 1927, namely to the Osmolodskoye forestry in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, but as an ornamental plant. And subsequently both species were found in a wild state: Sosnovsky - in the 80s, Mantegazzi - in the 60s. Miroslav Shevera says that while there were collective and state farms, the spread of these plants was controlled, but with their decline they began to quickly spread throughout Ukraine.
You can get rid of a dangerous plant in a few years if you have the desire
Hogweed is considered an aggressive plant, or, as scientists say, invasive, that is, it poses a threat to flora and fauna. It forms colonies over tens of square meters, grows very quickly, has a long flowering period and many seeds. In addition, hogweed can self-pollinate and is very prone to hybridization. All these properties allow it to spread very actively throughout the territory. But at the same time, Miroslav Shevera says that getting rid of this aggressive plant is not easy, but it is possible if you set yourself the following goal: “An effective fight against hogweed will be at least 3-4 years of mowing it before the seeds form, as well as removing the rhizomes. In places of mass distribution there is also plowing. True, there are many seeds left in the soil, which can retain the ability to germinate for up to ten years, so you need to carefully monitor the areas where it grew. Several years ago in Uzhgorod there was a special city program, according to which hogweed was actively mowed down, and now there is much less of it there.”
In general, in Ukraine, the fight against hogweed falls within the competence of city, town, and village chairmen, who must obtain from the owners of land plots where hogweed grows its destruction. This is stated in Article 33 of the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” and the Land Code of Ukraine.
But in this whole story of the appearance of hogweed in our open spaces, one question remains unanswered: how was it possible to import an unknown plant into the country without knowing in advance about such harm? Perhaps for this we should “thank” the Soviet breeder Pyotr Vavilov, who in the 1940s convinced the then leadership of the benefits of hogweed and defended his dissertation: the plant, they say, should boost war-weary agriculture. Miroslav Ševera says that scientists do not yet have an exact answer to this question, but emphasizes that before starting to grow a plant that is not native to the region, scientists need to remember two main approaches: analyzing the influence of this plant on nature and humans, as well as studying facts not whether this plant has caused harm in other countries.
Yulia Gorban , Kyiv
P.S. Ukrinform decided to remind you of 7 more plants that are common on our territory and pose a danger to human health
Datura common // Photo: Wikipedia Datura common grows in damp places, near roads, residential buildings. The plant has large white tube-shaped flowers and large leaves, but the seeds of Datura are especially poisonous.
Poisoning can be identified by the following signs: dilated pupils, intraocular pressure, rapid heartbeat, vomiting, headache. If you drink water after the plant enters your stomach, an unpleasant taste will appear in your mouth.
grows on the edges, near rivers, and also loves beech and oak forests. It has tall stems and many branches, but people can be attracted by the fruits, which look like small cherries and even taste sweet.
The first signs of belladonna poisoning appear within 20 minutes. A person’s voice hoarses, his throat dries out, his heartbeat quickens, his pupils dilate. Poisoning can have fatal consequences, including pulmonary paralysis or circulatory failure.
Ambrosia artemifolia Ambrosia artemifolia grows in gardens, vegetable gardens, roadsides, pastures, wastelands. The plant, which looks like wormwood or hemp, produces poisonous pollen.
During the flowering period, when pollen concentrations reach their peak, ragweed can cause allergies. A few grains of pollen are enough to cause inflammation of the eyes, difficulty breathing, watery eyes, and in particularly large doses, conjunctivitis.
Henbane black Henbane black grows near roads or residential buildings, in fields. It has a very unpleasant odor, grows up to one and a half meters tall, has sticky leaves and large flowers of off-white or yellowish color with fibers.
You can become poisoned by this plant by tasting the seeds or young shoots. Signs of poisoning appear within 10-20 minutes: the mouth becomes dry, hoarseness begins, the skin turns red, and the pupils become enlarged. In severe cases, a person may lose consciousness or even fall into a coma.
Hemlock spotted Hemlock spotted grows in wastelands, near roads, in vegetable gardens, forest edges, meadows. It can also be found in landfills and near roads. The leaves of the young plant look like carrots, parsley or dill, so it may not be recognized. The inflorescence is shaped like an umbrella and consists of many small flowers.
This pseudo-parsley contains the liquid alkaloid coniine, which causes poisoning. A person experiences a headache and dizziness, increased blood pressure, possible rapid heartbeat, and nausea. The pupils also dilate, the skin turns pale, it becomes difficult to swallow, convulsions and even ascending paralysis appear. There is a risk of death from suffocation, and dermatitis appears as a result of contact of the plant with the skin.
Poisonous wekh, or hemlock Poisonous wekh, or hemlock, grows in floodplain meadows, near rivers and lakes. It has a branched stem, bi- and triperate leaves, and in summer it bears white small flowers that form an umbrella.
If the substance enters the stomach, the first signs of poisoning appear within 20 minutes - diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms also include increased salivation, abdominal pain and seizures that can lead to death.
Wolfsbane, or fighter Wolfsbane, or fighter, It grows on river banks, mountain meadows and even near roads, most importantly in moist soil. It has rounded leaves and dark blue or purple flowers and grows in bushes.
Aconite contains a poisonous alkaloid - aconitine, which upon contact with the skin causes itching, and if it gets into the oral cavity, it causes pain and burns. After contact with the plant, the condition quickly worsens - breathing first quickens and then slows down, there may be dizziness, muscle paralysis, decreased temperature and chills, and involuntary urination. Just two milligrams of aconitine are enough to cause death.
Prepared by Maryana Ryabchenyuk
These plants are often confused because their leaves have almost the same shape. And in the pharmacy they sell fennel seeds under the name dill. People called it Voloshsky dill. Meanwhile, these are different plants, although they are close relatives and can even mix with each other. Let's look at them separately, and then figure out how they differ.
Dill
Everyone knows what dill looks like. Even if you have never lived in a village and do not have your own garden, such a plant can be found on store shelves even in winter.
Botanical description
This is a rather tall annual herbaceous plant, growing from 40 to 150 cm. The root is thin, taproot. The stem is usually single, although there are bush varieties in which up to a dozen stems emerge from one root. At the base of the stem there is a basal rosette of long, pinnately dissected leaves. The leaves are located along the entire height of the stem, and the higher, the smaller they are.
The very top of the stem is decorated with an inflorescence in the shape of a double umbrella. First, from 20 to 50 rays extend from the stem, which end in a smaller copy of the first umbrella. The flowers are small and yellow. Blooms in June – July. In August, the seeds ripen in the form of flat, elliptical achenes 3-5 mm long and 2-3 mm wide.
Chemical composition and nutritional value of dill
Dill leaves contain 2.5% protein, 0.5% fat and 6.3% carbohydrates. Their calorie content is low - 40 kcal/100 g. Fiber content is 2.8%, which is 14% of the daily requirement (per 100 g of dill leaves).
They are also rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C (100 mg or 111% of the daily requirement per 100 g) and carotene (90% of the daily requirement per 100 g). They contain relatively little folic acid - 6.8% of the daily value. Vitamin E (11.3% of the requirement), vitamin B6 (7.5% of the norm), PP (7%) and B2 (5.6%) are also present.
Among the mineral substances, we note calcium (22% of the norm in 100 g), magnesium (17.5%), potassium (13.4%), phosphorus (11.6%) and iron (8.9%), and among microelements - manganese (63.2%), copper (14.6%) and zinc (7.6%). The content of potassium, calcium and phosphorus in the seeds is 3-4 times higher than in the leaves.
Dill in cooking
Fresh dill leaves are almost the first to appear on our spring table, back in April, when the body is in dire need of vitamins. They are added to salads, soups, sauces and side dishes, and they are part of many seasonings. Mashed potatoes with dill are much richer in flavor. And lightly salted cucumbers without it are generally nonsense. Dill inflorescences with unripe seeds are certainly added to pickled vegetables and mushrooms.
Dill: medicinal properties
The healing properties of dill have been known since ancient Egypt. They knew about them in Persia and India. In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates praised him, and in the Middle Ages, Avicenna devoted a lot of space to him in his monumental work “The Canon of Medicine.” It was in the Middle Ages that dill spread widely throughout Europe. Poets sang its aroma in poetry. Dill was credited with the ability to ward off evil spirits.
They treated not only diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, but also kidneys, migraines, anemia, insomnia, and eye diseases.
In this, folk experience is confirmed by modern science, which has confirmed that dill has the following properties:
- antispasmodic;
- anti-inflammatory;
- choleretic;
- diuretic;
- vasodilator;
- expectorant;
- antiseptic.
Dill is also used in cosmetics to get rid of acne and whiten freckles.
For women, dill helps get rid of cycle disruptions, but pregnant women need to be careful with it, since dill oil tones the uterus and, if consumed excessively, can lead to miscarriage.
For men, dill can help with problems with potency. It is not for nothing that in Ancient Greece it was considered an aphrodisiac and was pinned to clothing to increase desire. Dill dilates blood vessels, including those in the corpus cavernosum, so the rumor about this property was well founded. In addition, it relieves nervous excitement and eliminates self-doubt.
It perfectly whitens teeth and eliminates bad breath, so chewing a sprig of dill will be beneficial on a date.
However, dill should not be eaten by those who suffer from allergies. Unfortunately, the essential oils of this plant are quite a powerful allergen. It is also not recommended for hypotensive patients to get carried away with the product.
Growing dill in the garden
It would seem that there is nothing simpler - scatter the seeds on the ground in early spring, slightly loosen the soil and pick the fragrant greens a month later. Well, that’s possible, but it’s better to approach this matter according to all the rules of agronomic science. Then the harvest will be higher, the greens will be juicier, and there will be much more vitamins in it.
The bed needs to be prepared in the fall: dig it to a depth of 20 cm and add compost. As soon as the snow melts, you can start planting. Dill seeds are small and should be planted shallow. They germinate slowly due to the abundance of essential oils that prevent water absorption and swelling.
The first shoots will appear in 2-3 weeks. You can speed up this process by pre-soaking the seeds for 3 days in warm water (50 degrees). Some gardeners even scald them with boiling water. If you planted soaked seeds, be sure to cover the bed with film. And in the case of sowing with dry seeds, this is useful. Shoots will appear much earlier.
Seeds can be sown several times at intervals of two weeks. Then you will be guaranteed fresh greens all summer long. Dill is also planted before winter, just before the snow cover is established, so that the seeds do not have time to germinate.
You can plant dill even in January! To do this, the bed is cleared of snow, seeds are scattered and sprinkled with compost or peat.
Caring for dill is simple - just water it on time. It does not require fertilizers; compost added before planting is sufficient. But if the leaves begin to turn yellow ahead of time, then pour a weak solution of urea (1 teaspoon per bucket of water) or mullein (1:10). It is useful to know that dill varieties are early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening.
The former will delight you with fragrant greenery much earlier, but they will also bloom faster, and therefore their yield is lower. These include varieties such as “Gribovsky” and “Umbrella”. They are sown under film in early spring.
Mid-season varieties (“Uzory”, “Lesnogorodsky”, “Borey”, “Umbrella”, “Richelieu”, “Kibray”) produce more leaves, but the greens are ready for consumption a week later. They are useful for lightly salted cucumbers, and they are also very tasty in salads.
Late varieties (Buyan, Salyut, Alligator, Amazon) give the largest harvest, but you will have to wait 2-2.5 months for it.
Fennel
Unlike dill, fennel can be found much less often in vegetable gardens, especially in the middle zone. And this is not surprising. Fennel is much more heat-loving, because it is native to the south. Its habitat in the wild does not extend beyond the North Caucasus.
Botanical description
This is a tall biennial or perennial herbaceous plant growing up to 1.8-2 m. The root is thickened, fleshy, spindle-shaped. The stem is branched, rounded, furrowed, with a bluish-blue coating. At the base of the stem, just like dill, there is a basal rosette of long leaves. In vegetable varieties, the petioles of the leaves grow together into a rounded head, shaped like an onion. Smaller leaves are also located along the entire height of the stem.
The very top of the stem is decorated with several inflorescences in the shape of a double umbrella, only the number of rays is less than that of dill, no more than 20, and often only 3, and the inflorescences themselves are smaller in size. Blooms from July to September. The flowers are the same as dill. The fruits are two-seeds up to 1 cm long, easily falling apart into two slices. They do not ripen at the same time, starting from early September and ending in October.
Chemical composition and nutritional value of fennel
In terms of chemical composition, dill and fennel are very similar. Fennel bulb contains 1.24% protein, 0.2% fat and 7.3% carbohydrates. Calorie content – 31 kcal/100 g. Fiber content – 3.1%, which is 15.5% of the daily requirement (per 100 g).
Fennel contains 12 mg of vitamin C, which is 13.3% of the daily requirement, carotene - 12.8% of the daily requirement per 100g, and very little folic acid (1.2% of the daily requirement).
There is significantly less calcium in the onion than in dill leaves (5.2% of the norm per 100 g), as well as magnesium (5.4%), potassium (5.4%), phosphorus (9.7%), iron (0.9%), manganese (10.2%), copper (10.0%) and zinc (1.7%). Green leaves contain more of them, and fruits contain even more than leaves.
Fennel in cooking
A fennel bulb can be added to soups and salads, fried or stewed, combined with other vegetables to prepare a flavorful stew, added to sauces, or pickled. It goes especially well with beef or chicken, giving dishes a flavor that will be remembered for a long time. Greens can be used instead of dill, but the smell of the dishes will be completely different, similar to anise or tarragon. The fruits are added to baked goods and confectionery.
Fennel: medicinal properties
Fennel was known to the ancient Egyptians, from whom the ancient Greeks also learned about it, who attributed miraculous and magical properties to it.
It has the same medicinal properties as dill, but is noticeably stronger. Thanks to anethole in the composition of the essential oil, it has a much more pronounced expectorant and lactogenic effect, so it is better to use it for coughs and to increase milk in nursing mothers. For pregnant women, it is much less dangerous than dill, so they often use it for intestinal problems.
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In nature, there is always a chance of stumbling upon a poisonous plant. And while adults will most likely just pass by, curious children who want to taste everything may get hurt.
website reminds: many very dangerous plant species are grown as ornamental ones and can be seen not only in the forest, but also on window sills and flower beds. Therefore, you should also be vigilant in the city.
Where it occurs: In the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; prefers damp places, swamps.
There are several types of buttercups, many of them poisonous.
Where it occurs: Temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, Australia.
The most common representatives are red and black elderberry. All parts of the plant are poisonous, and if you just touch the elderberry, it is best to wash your hands. Interestingly, black berries are completely safe when ripe; they are used to make drinks and pies.
Why it is dangerous: Provokes headache, weakness, abdominal pain, and sometimes cramps. Possible heart failure and respiratory arrest.
Where it occurs: In tropical and subtropical regions. Used in landscape design, it is grown all over the world as an indoor flower.
A truly insidious plant that attracts with its pleasant aroma and beautiful pink or white flowers.
Why it’s dangerous: Contains cardiac glycosides, which can change heart rhythm, cause vomiting, headache, weakness and even death. There is a legend that Napoleon's soldiers unknowingly made a fire from oleander branches and fried meat on it. The next morning, some of the soldiers did not wake up.
Where it occurs: In Europe, Asia and North America. Because of its beautiful purple, blue and yellowish flowers, it is grown in flower beds. This is a tall and conspicuous plant.
In the ancient world it was used to poison arrows. Even bees can get poisoned if they take honey from aconite. By the way, delphinium is its close relative, and it is also poisonous.
Why it’s dangerous: VERY poisonous plant. Causes cardiac arrhythmia, numbness of the face, arms and legs, darkening of the eyes and death. The juice even penetrates the skin.
Where it occurs: In North and Central America, Europe, southern regions of Russia.
Datura resembles a potato or tomato, which is not surprising, since it is their close relative. This is an inconspicuous plant with spiky fruit-pods with black seeds inside. Its white flowers emit an intoxicating scent.
Why it’s dangerous: Contains alkaloids that cause rapid heartbeat, disorientation and delirium. In severe cases, death or coma may occur. Shamans of many nations used this plant in their rituals.
Where it occurs: In temperate regions of Eurasia, one species exists in the USA.
Just a giant among umbrellas, which looks quite impressive, but it is better not to take pictures next to it.
Why it’s dangerous: Some species contain furanocoumarins, which cause painful burns when exposed to sunlight. Therefore, if hogweed juice gets on your hand, wash it and protect it from sunlight for about two days.
Where it occurs: Everywhere. Often seen on window sills, including in children's institutions.
Euphorbias include a huge number of species, often very different in appearance: some look like cacti, others look like flowers. Teach children not to touch unfamiliar plants, even if they grow in pots.
Why it’s dangerous: The juice leaves burns. Later, malaise, swelling and fever appear.