Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

Amy Stewart

Language: English

Pages: 256

ISBN: 1565126831

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You’ll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother).

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

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this a risky and unpredictable mushroom to experiment with. PAINFUL Habanero Chile CAPSICUM CHINENSE Imagine: a pepper so hot that popping one in your mouth could send you to the hospital. At first, your eyes will water and your throat will burn; then you’ll start to have trouble swallowing. Your hands and face will go numb. If you’re particularly unlucky, you’ll go into respiratory distress—all over one fiery habanero pepper. FAMILY: Solanaceae HABITAT: Tropical climates; needs

feet tall in the tropical undergrowth of forests on the central part of Africa’s west coast. It produces clusters of small pink, yellow, or white flowers, followed by elongated orange fruit that resemble habanero peppers. The plant contains a powerful alkaloid called ibogaine, which is especially concentrated in the roots and is used to make a controversial medicine that some believe can cure heroin addiction. FAMILY: Apocynaceae HABITAT: Tropical forests NATIVE TO: West Africa COMMON

relatives like coriander, parsnips, and carrots. In fact, most accidental poisonings from water hemlock come about because people mistakenly believe the roots are edible. Unfortunately, the roots have a slightly sweet taste that might encourage someone to take a second bite. FAMILY: Apiaceae HABITAT: Temperate climates, usually near rivers and wetlands NATIVE TO: North America COMMON NAMES: Cowbane, wild carrot, snakeweed, poison parsnip, false parsley, children’s bane, death-of-man It

will drool. The 1898 King’s American Dispensatory reported on the plant’s powerful effect on the salivary glands, stating that “the secretion of saliva increases to such an extent as to greatly embarrass speech, the person being often obliged to assume an inclined position that the escape of the saliva may be facilitated. During its salivary action one or two pints of saliva, and even more, may be secreted.” Don’t try this as a party trick, however. The drooling is often followed by hours of

in Canada and the eastern United States, which is also called American yew or ground hemlock. End Notes Antidote Throughout the twentieth century, syrup of ipecac was recommended as a treatment for accidental poisoning. Ipecac is made from the roots of Psychotria ipecacuanha, a flowering shrub in Brazil. The syrup proved to be a powerful emetic, causing violent vomiting that might bring up the poison. Ipecac syrup eventually made its way into the medicine chest of every family with

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