Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Consider Yourself Warned: Wicked Plants

This weekend I visited the exhibit of botanical rogues and assassins based on Amy Stuart's book "Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities".  The exhibit is currently on display at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

The purple flowers are, of course, those of a foxglove, a plant that has medicinal values but which is toxic in larger doses

The exhibit represents the back yard of a Victorian house where a botanical murder has been committed.

The back porch of the house. The trumpet flowers are those of datura, a plant containing tropane alkaloids which are used as a poinson and hallucinogen




The "back yard" is an amazing collection of plants, ranging from some of the more common ones like oleander and tobacco to some pretty exotic ones, such as this prickly monster called "porcupine tomato" (solanum pyracanthon) hiding in a bed of coleus.

The porcupine tomato produces toxic tropane alkaloids in its leaves, flowers and fruit


The porcupine tomato was bad enough, but a climbing onion?

These bulbs are poisonous. Make a salad for some one you really don't like


Is there a creeping potato hiding somewhere? A strawberry wielding a machine gun? In fact the range of lethal weapons these plants are armed with made me very careful not to come too close to any of them. Who knows how they can get you.

Touch it and turn into a goblin?










Some plants can literally make you speechless...

The sign says: A tropical South American plant well known for its ability to temporarily inflame vocal cords, leaving people unable to speak. Some species are believed to have been used as an arrow poison.



...while others can gobble you up alive. The beautiful pitcher plants below are carnivorous: they lure insects into their "pitchers" which contain liquid that dissolves the insects for consumption by the plant.


I remember reading somewhere that once there was a partially eaten mouse found inside a pitcher. These plants apparently have quite a varied diet...

Another type of pitcher plant



Right below the pitchers is an unusual free-floating plant called a water hyacinth. I thought it was beautiful until I read that it holds the Guinness World Record as the world's worst aquatic weed. Apparently it grows really fast, doubling its population every two weeks, and chokes waterways stopping even commercial boats and closing down dams....



Most exhibits were accompanied by signs containing direct quotes from the book. I have to say that makes for very interesting reading.


Below is a castor bean plant, which until now I have only seen in a bottle of castor oil.




Most people know about the medicinal value of castor oil, but apparently anything can be put to use in a wicked way, especially by KBG agents. I will let the sign tell the story...



I was disappointed they didn't mention roses. I am quite sure there is an undocumented fact or two about a prickly monster luring the unsuspected passerby, siren-like, with her beautiful blooms, and then sinking her hooked prickles into the victim and holding him forever in a deadly embrace. I can think of a few ramblers that would fit the part...

48 comments:

  1. I pomyśleć, że Ci mordercy żyją wśród nas i jeszcze nam się podobają. Trzeba na nie "mieć oko" i nie dać się. Świetna wystawa. Pozdrawiam ciepło

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  2. I like your description of the ramblers. I can picture that. Amy's book is a great read and the exhibt based on it looked like fun.

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  3. What an interesting post and what a great garden that must have been to see in person. It does seem like roses should have been included. They sure can do bodily harm that's for sure.

    FlowerLady

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  4. Speechless !
    Such a beautiful way, to present those plants ! Love your post - perfect pictures (those statues are so beautiful, among the plants and fountains). I would like, to read the book.

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  5. A really interesting event!
    In nature there are many so-called toxic plant species. When implanted in a garden, if you have children, you should also inquire about the toxicity of plants.
    Not having that problem, I have several species in my garden.
    Thank you for this beautiful post and photos really fabulous!

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  6. This was a fascinating journey. Thanks for sharing it, Masha!
    I do remember reading a short story in a woman's magazine YEARS ago, (in my teens) about a woman who went to prune her rose bed and became trapped by thorns entangling her clothes. She did not come out alive. It was a silly, melodramatic story, but I am to this day very conscientious about properly spacing rose bushes....
    Sandra

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  7. Thank you Giga,Donna and Flowerlady. It was a great exhibit and I had a lot of fun.

    Dani, thank you. You are right, the statues were very interesting and a bit creepy as befits a Victorian mystery. I was fascinated with how they put patches of moss on them to make them look even scarier. I feel bad that I rampur of space in the post...

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  8. What a great exhibition! There are so many fascinating things to learn about plants. Thanks for a very interesting post!
    Christina

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  9. Tyziana, thank you. That is exactly what one of the signs said, that when we bring the baby home we cover electrical outlets, but ignore our houseplants, even though many more people are poisoned by plants than are injured by electrical outlets...

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  10. Sandra, thank you for confirming my assumption. I knew roses could be lethal because it almost happened to me too: I have a big Cecille Brunner rose that I grow as a free-standing weeping shrub, and one day I decided to weed underneath it. As I crawled under it, the weeping canes grabbed me and held tight, so I ended up yelling to my husband for help. I was fortunate it was a weekend and he was home.

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  11. Thank you, Christina. I wish you could have seen it with me!

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  12. amazing, very interesting! "White oleander" on my mind, remember this book and film?

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  13. I'm reading this book right now!!! I wish I could teleport myself to that exhibit!! I also have Wicked Bugs but haven't started it yet. I was amazed to read that kidney beans are poisonous if undercooked! I will no longer tell anyone I make "killer" chili!!

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  14. Great post! Will probably come back just to admire the photos. The second pitchers photo is my favourite. I bought a packet of those seeds, saracenia flava, at the chelsea flower show last year, but they didn't germinate.

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  15. What a clever garden to go along with Stewart's clever idea for a book! Sounds like a lot of fun to visit - as long as you keep your hands to yourself and your mouth closed ;-)

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  16. Cute exhibition! Sounds like the book would be a fun and interesting read, too.

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  17. What a fun exhibit. Castor bean plants are actually quite beautiful annuals and come in a variety of cultivars.

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  18. So many of our edibles are related to roses that I'm glad they (roses) weren't on the list! Interesting garden, although I admit I was looking at the statuary in the pictures as much as the plants.

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  19. Thank you, megimoher, and no, I will have to check it out :)

    Casa Mariposa, how amazing! If I knew I would have made a longer post - there were lots of other things I left out because I was afraid it would be too long... I am considering buying it - it is too much fun to miss... I knew about kidney beans because there is a Dick Francis mystery where a villain poisoned a lot of people at an event by adding a few raw beans surreptitiously to the food :).

    B-a-g, thank you, and I am sorry about the seeds. Apparently they are quite finicky about growing conditions. I actually considered a Venus flytrap because we have a lot of flies in the summer, but then I read that it takes the plant weeks to eat a single fly and it might eat only a dozen during its entire life...

    VW, exactly! I tried as best I could :)

    Holley, yes, it does. I am considering it for our grey rainy winters.

    Carolyn, I didn't know that. I will have to check them out, thanks for letting me know!

    Professor, the statuary was very interesting. I regret, again, not posting more pictures of it.

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  20. Great post! This was so interesting. I was aware of the poisonous attributes of some of these plants but was surprised by others. Love the signs and the photos! Thanks for sharing...

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  21. Thank you, the Sage Butterfly, I was surprised too!

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  22. i remember taking castor oil as a child. and it wasn't a good memory. lol. dont know what it was for however, probably had ants in my pants.

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  23. I remember my parents using it as a lever to get me to eat my vegetables :)

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  24. What a fun post to read. I forwarded the link to another blogger who will enjoy it, too. I love the datura photo.

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  25. Thank you, GirlSprout, I hope your friend enjoys it!

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  26. Wow, that was fun! I need to spend a little more time reading the details on the signs. Thanks for sharing your little adventure!

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  27. Thank you, Beth, it really was fun!

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  28. Fascinating stuff! You go to the most interesting places. I laughed when I read your suggestion of making a sald with Climbing Onion for someone you really don't like.

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  29. Thank you, Sweetbay, my goal was to make you laugh, I am glad I achieved it! I don't really go to a lot of places, I guess I am lucky to live in an area where lots of things happen...

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  30. Very interesting and entertaining post!

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  31. Hi Masha, What a fun and interesting exhibit! I bet there is lots of material here that a mystery writer could put to good use.

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  32. Thank you, Darla, I am glad you liked it.

    Jennifer, I agree, I have heard that natural poisons are much stronger than anything made in a laboratory :).

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  33. Masha, I am glad your husband was home, too! That must have been a panicky feeling.
    The Alnwick Garden at Alnwick Castle has a famous 'poison' garden. It looks lovely from the photos. :)
    The gardens there are being extensively developed. I would love to see them.
    Sandra

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  34. Sandra, yes, I am much more careful now :). The Alnwick Garden is one of many I want to visit in England. Maybe one day...

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  35. Dear Masha, Such an interesting posting. Another book to add to my list of must reads. Your photographs perfectly capture the exhibit. One of my favorite photographs is of the English ivy next to the gargoyle - very appropriate! P. x

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  36. Beautiful pictures! I got my mother this spring the trumpet flowers. Now I learn it grow. You really have a fantastic flower!

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  37. Great post and fabulous photos which could make us forget about their poison.

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  38. Such wicked wicked plants but they all look quite innocent and lovely...maybe to hide their menacing characters? Good post to read!

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  39. Pam, thank you. I added this book to my wish list too, along with Wicked Bugs.

    Sanna, datura is beautiful, I agree. If I had room, I would grow it too, along with my oleanders and azaleas. I tend not to eat my ornamental plants, so it is OK :).

    Isabelle, merci, and you are right, often they are so beautiful you forget you need to be careful...

    p3chandan, LOL, thank you for a funny comment!

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  40. Hello Masha,
    Great post! These plants are amazing but give the shivers. The cashew facts were surprising. And the possible danger of castor oil is something worth knowing.

    Remember I posted about a shrub with purple/lilac/white flowers in my garden? I found out it's called Brunfelsia. I also found out it's a very toxic plant.

    Unfortunately, I didn't go to any gardens in Idaho, didn't have much time. But I saw lots of desert on my way there.

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  41. Olga, thank you, and I am glad to hear from you again. Yes, I remember that plant. I grow a few poisonous plants too, such as oleanders, but I found that my kids never wanted to eat any leaves or branches... Well, they still don't like their vegetables...

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  42. A very interesting trip into the plants world, Masha ! Thanks. I love the KGB anecdot... how impressive. Good night!

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  43. Merci, Gabriel, I am glad you got to see it. I like the KGB, but especially the Mussolini story :)

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  44. How very interesting! I was aware of many of these toxic plants but was very surprised by a few you mentioned. This was both fascinating and important information. I was also very fascinated with the statues. Very interesting post.
    I haven't been blogging much lately because I had family matters to take care of, so now that I'm back I was just catching up on your previous beautiful posts. You take amazing photos and I loved how you captured the raindrops on the flowers. I loved your post on Roses of Yesterday. I bought several roses from them when the nursery went by it's full name. Those roses are still thriving. Thank you for your beautiful posts.

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  45. A most interesting post. The book would be an interesting read.

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  46. Blooming Rose Musings, thank you -I appreciate it great that you took the trouble to read the previous posts and let me know. I am glad you had your family issues resolved, and am looking forward to reading more of your blog.

    RR, thank you, I think so too, I will probably end up ordering it for winter reading :).

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  47. Amazing info. I (being so far from botany) was glad to meet Moscow-lover as I was and to make friends. Now I realize how dangerous, interesting and intriguing you, botany-people, can be)).
    Masha, photos and info are amazing.

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  48. Irina, thank you, and I was delighted to meet you and see pictures of Moscow that I miss so much on your blog. Yes, we botany-people can be pretty dangerous :)

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I am so glad you have stopped by!