1. Poisonous Plants
PBIO 006
Summer 2011

2. Poisonous Plants
Socrates was forced to consume hemlock for corruption of young boys. He died of asphyxiation due to paralysis of diaphragm

3. Plant Families Rich in Poisons:
Apiaceae (Parsley Family)
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)
Fabaceae (Pea Family)
Euphorbiaceae (Poinsettia Family)

4. "The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy." - Paracelsus
Dose-response curve

5. false hellebore, a poisonous plant in the lily family (Liliaceae)
Veratrum viride
false hellebore, a poisonous
plant in the lily family
(Liliaceae)
Humans have ingested false hellebore, mistaking it for skunk cabbage. The symptoms include reduced heart rate, low blood pressure, and vomiting. False hellebore was used by West Coast Indians to commit suicide

6. “Wow, I just took care of two New Yorkers who moved to a beautiful homein the
Mad River Valley last month. Their neighbors turned them on to grilled
wild ramps last week, so they decided to go out foraging for Easter and ended up
eating a dinner of False Hellebore (Veraturm viride) instead. They both nearly died
from the posionous glycoalkaloids (veratrin and others) - waking up at 2 am with
vomiting, severe abdominal pain, bradycardia and hypotension, eventually causing
shock with heart rate<40 bpm and blood pressure <70 mmHg. Fortunately they
responded toatropine and IV flulids and they will sleep this off in the ICU.”

7. OK if eaten in the early spring
Skunk cabbage:
OK if eaten in the early spring
60 toxic steroidal alkaloids have been isolated from Veratrum species. Three of the alkaloids are teratogenic (jervine, cyclopamine and cycloposine).
False hellebore:
highly toxic!
jervine, an alkaloid

8. Cyclops or "monkey- faced" lamb (day 14 of gestation)
Lamb with craniofacial abnormalities
(12th - 30th day of gestation)
Toxicity:  45 grams of root/rhizome given twice daily for three days to ewes beginning on day 29 of gestation induced typical limb deformities in lambs.
The mechanism of teratogenesis is believed to be related to defective cartilage formation, which effectively induces malformations of the head, trachea and epiphyseal plates of the leg bones. 
Clinical signs: manifestations of the teratogenic effects are directly related to the stage of gestation at which the plant is eaten.  If pregnant ewes are exposed on the 14th day of gestation, lambs develop classic cyclopian deformities (monkey-faced lambs).  Other craniofacial deformities occur if Veratrum is fed to ewes between the 12th and 30th days of gestation (cleft palate, harelip and brachygnathia).  Lambs can develop shortened legs as a result of hypoplasia of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones if ewes eat the plant between days 30 to 36. 
Lamb with shortened metacarpals and metatarsals
(Veratrum ingested by ewe near day 30 of gestation)

9. Jimson weed contains the tropane alkaloids
atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine.
Jimson weed contains tropane alkaloids that are sometimes used as hallucinogens. The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopalomine.

10. Physiological effects of Datura intoxication
Blind as a bat, mad as a hatter.
Red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone.
The bowel and bladder lose their tone,
and the heart runs alone.
The actual effects are reported to be paralysis of muscles of the eye and extreme dilation of the pupil, flushed, warm and dry skin, dry mouth, urinary retention, slowing or stopping of intestinal movement, rapid heart beat, and jerky movements. In case of overdose the effects are elevated body temperature, seizures, and respiratory arrest. The vast majority of atropine-poisoning cases are accompanied by delirium with hallucinations .
Datura stramonium fruit

11. The effects of Datura have been described as a living dream: consciousness falls in and out, people who don't exist or are miles away are conversed with etc. The effects can last for days.

12. Tropane alkaloids are some of the few substances which cause true hallucinations, which cannot be distinguished from reality.

13. The doses that cause noticeable effects and the doses that can kill are very close with datura. This makes overdosing on Datura stramonium very easy.

14. Datura stramonium “Jamestown weed”
“For they turn’d Fools upon it for several days, In this frantick Condition they were confined, lest they should in their Folly destroy themselves... And after Eleven days, return’d to themselves again, not remembering anything that had pass’d.”
From The History and Present State of Virginia, 1705, Robert Beverly
In the U.S., the plant is called Jimsonweed; it got this name from the town of Jamestown, Virginia, where British soldiers were secretly drugged with it (in their salad), while attempting to stop Bacon’s Rebellion.

15. Strychnos toxifera
Loganiaceae
D-tubocurarine

16. Curare is used as a poison with which to
tip darts shot through a blowgun

17. Death for birds would take
1-2 minutes, small mammals
up to 10 minutes, and large
mammals such as tapirs, up to 20 minutes.

18. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Recently, D-tubocurarine has
been used to relax the heart
muscles during open heart
surgery.
D-tubocurarine
The alkaloid D-tubocurarine blocks acetylcholine receptor sites at neuromuscular junctions, causing relaxation and paralysis of muscles, including respiratory organs and the heart.
DRUG
One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

19. Tobacco
Nicotiana tabacum
Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)

20. Tobacco was the first crop grown for money in the original thirteen American colonies.

21. Nicotine The most addictive drug in widespread use.
Nicotine is an alkaloid, a N-containing compound with a ring structure

22. The flavor and aroma of tobacco develop during curing.
Tobacco fields in North Carolina
The flavor and aroma of tobacco develop during curing.

23. Cigarettes
Currently, approximately 1.1 billion smokers consume five trillion cigarettes a year

24. lev70065_t20_01.jpg

25. Poisonous plants in the home and garden
fly agaric
mistletoe
Lily of the valley
poinsettia
yew

26. Don’t eat green potatoes!
Potatoes that have been exposed to light and started to green can show solanine concentrations of 1 mg/g or more. In these situations a single unpeeled potato can result in a dangerous dose.
Solanine poisoning is primarily displayed by gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, burning of the throat, headaches and dizziness. Hallucinations, loss of sensation, and paralysis, fever, jaundice, dilated pupils and hypothermia have been reported in more severe cases. In large quantities, solanine poisoning can cause death.
Symptoms of solanine poisoning include nausea, diarrhea,
vomiting, and stomach cramps. If the dose is high enough,
solanine poisoning can kill.

27. Jequirity, or rosary pea
QUESTION: What is the most poisonous plant in the world
to humans?
ANSWER: The lectins in … rosary pea are your best bets.
They can be lethal by multiple routes (ingestion, injection,
inhalation) and a little goes a long ways. Only a few
molecules can inactivate a cell's ribosomes, thereby blocking
protein synthesis.
Abrus precatorius
Fabaceae
Jequirity, or rosary pea