Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

.................Leslie

On 2013-09-07 16:48:50 +0000, leslie said:

Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

.................Leslie

More than Ricinus?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

In article ,
sacha wrote:
On 2013-09-07 16:48:50 +0000, leslie said:

Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

More than Ricinus?

No. Nor Laburnum, nor .... Just don't munch on random plants :-)

The only reason to be cautious is in case leaves fall into salad
vegetables or herbs, but Datura leaves aren't exactly easy to
miss. I was rather more paranoid when I grew Gloriosa. This fuss
was just Merkin hysteria, and most repetitions of it are just
trolling.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 07/09/2013 20:02, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
sacha wrote:
On 2013-09-07 16:48:50 +0000, leslie said:

Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

More than Ricinus?

No. Nor Laburnum, nor .... Just don't munch on random plants :-)

The only reason to be cautious is in case leaves fall into salad
vegetables or herbs, but Datura leaves aren't exactly easy to
miss. I was rather more paranoid when I grew Gloriosa. This fuss
was just Merkin hysteria, and most repetitions of it are just
trolling.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Not British but has some of our plants
http://listverse.com/2011/07/02/top-...will-kill-you/
The most dangerous plant that a lot of people grow is Monkshood
http://www.vincelewis.net/monkshood.html

Datura is often promoted as a hallucinogenic (the seeds) and this is the
cause of many accidents with it.

In article ,
David Hill wrote:

Not British but has some of our plants
http://listverse.com/2011/07/02/top-...will-kill-you/

It's crap. Sorry, but that's all I can say. There are FAR more
lethal plants around, though none can grow out of the tropics,
and most of those aren't a problem unless you are insane enough
to eat significant quantities.

The most dangerous plant that a lot of people grow is Monkshood
http://www.vincelewis.net/monkshood.html

Hmm. Well, I touch it fairly often, and have never had problems.
Yes, it's one of the most dangerous, but I think that page is
over the top.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article 231446315400262242.805093leslie.beryl-
, says...

Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere

Probably not in the cooler parts of UK.

Janet

On Saturday, September 7, 2013 5:48:50 PM UTC+1, leslie wrote:
Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

Utter Rubbish! There are countless toxic plants both in the wild and in cultivation. A bit of common sense is all that is needed to prevent any problems. Folks who post inane messages like this really **** me off.

On 2013-09-07 23:11:54 +0100, Dave Poole said:

On Saturday, September 7, 2013 5:48:50 PM UTC+1, leslie wrote:
Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

Utter Rubbish! There are countless toxic plants both in the wild and
in cultivation. A bit of common sense is all that is needed to prevent
any problems. Folks who post inane messages like this really **** me
off.

Given the nature of the posting and the name given to the plant, I
would think is someone in USA used to seeing it growing wild and
prolifically in a warmy climate. Bit of hysteria there!
--

Sacha
South Devon

In article ,
Sacha wrote:
On 2013-09-07 23:11:54 +0100, Dave Poole said:

On Saturday, September 7, 2013 5:48:50 PM UTC+1, leslie wrote:
Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

Utter Rubbish! There are countless toxic plants both in the wild and
in cultivation. A bit of common sense is all that is needed to prevent
any problems. Folks who post inane messages like this really **** me
off.

Given the nature of the posting and the name given to the plant, I
would think is someone in USA used to seeing it growing wild and
prolifically in a warmy climate. Bit of hysteria there!

It's a fairly regular posting, though I have no idea why. It may
be trolling, because some people have a bee in their bonnet, or
for some other such reason.

It's an occasional casual here, but a widespread and common casual
in southern Europe and warmer climates. It was a common plant
during my childhood, and we were simply told that eating it
would kill us. Well, it would - we didn't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 07/09/2013 17:48, leslie wrote:
Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe

Not even close.

This plant will grow anywhere and if found in the wild should be destroyed
on sight

.................Leslie

It does just about survive in sheltered UK gardens and a few volunteer
seeds will survive our winters but not for the nicer sterile? cultivars.

I grow all sorts of datura and related plants. The smell of bruised
stems alone should be enough to put people off eating them. Its seeds
make rather good free lethal rodent bait in the greenhouse.

The smell of the trumpet flowers in the evening is exquisite. Well worth
growing and just ignore the US "war on drugs" hysteria. They are widely
grown as council bedding plants in the warmer regions along with the
Castor Oil plant. Its ricin content is of notorious WMD lethality.

We can also grow lophophora williamsii and a load of other US native
plants the cultivation of which is a serious criminal offence in the so
called "Land of the Free". Even better we grow papaver somniferum better
known as "The Opium Poppy" as a garden ornamental in the UK. There is
neither strong enough sun here nor enough active ingredient in the ones
bred for pretty flowers to be worth bothering about.

Basically the clear advice is don't eat any and wash your hands after
handling them. The one toxic plant I really find unbearable is henbane -
the smell of that really did make me want to get away from it quickly.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 07/09/2013 20:48, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

Not British but has some of our plants
http://listverse.com/2011/07/02/top-...will-kill-you/

It's crap. Sorry, but that's all I can say. There are FAR more
lethal plants around, though none can grow out of the tropics,
and most of those aren't a problem unless you are insane enough
to eat significant quantities.

I think it has been weighted by the chances of American children eating
them as well. In terms of total economic impact the ones that have
mastered organofluorine chemistry like Dichapetalum are hard to beat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichapetalum_cymosum

Not only does the plant kill livestock that eats it but the carcass can
also be lethal to anything that subsequently eats that.

Euphorbia virosa is high on my list of plants I have grown that require
very careful handling to avoid injury. Its sap pressure is sufficient to
send fine threads of toxic caustic 3 feet into the air if you damage the
skin. Goggles essential when handling it face mask advisable.

Most growers of succulent euphorbias also grow Aeonium Linleyii as an
antidote (largely on anecdotal grounds). I am pleased to say that I have
never yet needed to test it out.

http://www.succulent-plant.com/famil...e/aeonium.html

Toxicodendron has also mastered some pretty fearsome chemistry in the
urushiol family which used carefully makes the natural plastic lacquer
of Japan and also the nasty weeds poison oak and poison ivy. Its in the
same class as mustard gas in terms of being a blistering agent.

The most dangerous plant that a lot of people grow is Monkshood
http://www.vincelewis.net/monkshood.html

Hmm. Well, I touch it fairly often, and have never had problems.
Yes, it's one of the most dangerous, but I think that page is
over the top.

It's American - what do you expect?

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 07/09/2013 21:48, Janet wrote:
In article 231446315400262242.805093leslie.beryl-
, says...

Datura. !! Jimson Weed most dangerous hallucianating and killing plant in
europe
This plant will grow anywhere

Probably not in the cooler parts of UK.

Janet

It will grow and flower feebly outdoors without any help for me up in
North Yorkshire. Wouldn't stand a chance against native weeds though.
Produces huge numbers of seeds but only a handful survive. Very
borderline but it hangs on as do a few self seeded tomato plants.
(definitely less hardy than tomato)

BTW last year I did an accidental experiment because the weather was so
bad I ended up overwintering a modest sized chilli and a pepper plant
and they got off to a really flying start this year. Worth a try if you
have some warm well lit space to keep them ticking over during winter.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 07/09/2013 20:48, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

Not British but has some of our plants
http://listverse.com/2011/07/02/top-...will-kill-you/

It's crap. Sorry, but that's all I can say. There are FAR more
lethal plants around, though none can grow out of the tropics,
and most of those aren't a problem unless you are insane enough
to eat significant quantities.

I think it has been weighted by the chances of American children eating
them as well. In terms of total economic impact the ones that have
mastered organofluorine chemistry like Dichapetalum are hard to beat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichapetalum_cymosum

I stand corrected. That's only sub-tropical :-)

Euphorbia virosa is high on my list of plants I have grown that require
very careful handling to avoid injury. Its sap pressure is sufficient to
send fine threads of toxic caustic 3 feet into the air if you damage the
skin. Goggles essential when handling it face mask advisable.

You're bonkers!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 09/09/2013 08:07, Martin Brown wrote:
On 07/09/2013 20:48, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
David Hill wrote:

Not British but has some of our plants
http://listverse.com/2011/07/02/top-...will-kill-you/

It's crap. Sorry, but that's all I can say. There are FAR more
lethal plants around, though none can grow out of the tropics,
and most of those aren't a problem unless you are insane enough
to eat significant quantities.

I think it has been weighted by the chances of American children eating
them as well. In terms of total economic impact the ones that have
mastered organofluorine chemistry like Dichapetalum are hard to beat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichapetalum_cymosum

Not only does the plant kill livestock that eats it but the carcass can
also be lethal to anything that subsequently eats that.

There are many Western Australian plants (such as gastrolobiums and
other papilionaceae) which also use fluoroacetate. They were a great
problem for the early settlers as their sheep and cattle ate them, and
even if they survived those animals apparently did not learn to avoid
eating them in future. See he
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrolobium
Note how many have been given common names which end in "poison"!

Many of these are small shrubs and are very attractive. They would grow
happily in a frost-free greenhouse.

--

Jeff