HERB - Period poisons

[MdmMalice1@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/18/99 5:00:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
mermayde at juno.com writes:

<< Please feel free to keep the conversation on the list, unless the list
 administrator says otherwise, or nefarious plans start to be made... >>

:::laughing:: Speaking of nefarious plans  (my, that's a great word!  
"nefarious'  I need to work it into more conversations!)  I once had the 
bright idea of presenting period poison plants and their 
....err....products..yeah..products....as my entry in an Art/Sci competition. 
 Started my research, was dumbfounded at exactly how EASY it would be to get 
my hands on several of the more deadly plants and even went so far as to 
order some things.  And then one day, the voice of sanity, in the form of my 
room-mate (also an SCAer) just casually inquired "And if someone should 
decide to TEST your findings?"  Needless to say, I scrapped EVERYTHING.

But I'm still amazed at just how many potentially deadly (or close to it) 
plants and seeds I can get from just about anywhere, and with practically 
nobody the wiser!  

I mean, simple things like tomato plants.  Yes do eat the fruit, but don't 
eat the leaves.  But ever see a bunch of kids in a plant nursery when Mom's 
busy looking elsewhere?  Who knows what goes into their hands or mouths?  
Those jonquils and daffodil's may be lovely, but confuse the bulb with an 
onion and somebody's going to be very sorry!

I mean...Poinsettia's for heaven's sake!  One of my references tells me that 
Passion Flower (Adenia volkensii) is considered a serious human poison in 
eastern Africa.  And a version, A. digitata, is used to poison hyena bait.

At christmas, those packages of Mistletoe may look like a good excuse to kiss 
someone to the majority of people, but I'm seeing a plant containing a level 
3 poison.  Fatalities may be rare, but it can sure make you sick enough to 
think you're dying.

It just astounds me that I can walk into Wal-Mart and buy myself, 
oh...say...several packages of Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and grow myself a 
plant that when used maliciously can cause convulstions, frothing at the 
mouth, violent spasms, quick and feeble pulse, kidney problems and even (in 
exreme cases) death.  And when I walk out the door, I get a smile and a 
"Thank you for shopping our Wal-Mart!"

When I think of it, it just totally messes up my mind.

Melistra
Trimaris
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