The Top 10 Deadliest Plants (They Can Kill You!)

Some plants and flowers can be beautiful, but also extremely deadly. Join SciShow's Michael Aranda for a look into the top 10 deadliest plants, and find out just how toxic they are to humans and animals.
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Sources:
Dumbcane:

Foxglove:

Cerbera odollam:

Oleander:

Aconite:

Hemlock:

Nightshade:

Rosary pea:

White snakeroot:

Manchineel:

[elfarlaur]

I've actually seen manchineel when I was visiting Mayan ruins in the Yucatan in Mexico. There's actually an orange coloured tree that grows near them that have flaky bark and if you rub it on the sap burn from the manchineel it reduces the pain. There was actually a Mayan legend about two twins, the evil one became the manchineel and the good one became the orange tree to help those who fell victim to his brother.

[emptyness]

"Oh you don't have to worry, it grows in south america"

* watching from Peru *

[dandi]

Geeze, I remember playing with nightshade berries and some red berries when I was a kid (we knew nightshade was deadly, or as my grandmother told me, would make me sleep forever). My cousins and I would throw them at each other. It's another of those "How the hell did I survive my childhood" moments.

[a.p]

Fun fact about Nightshade: it is also known as belladonna which means beautiful woman in Italian. Since one of the symptoms of its poisoning causes the pupils to dilate, high-class woman would put a tiny amount to dilate their eyes to give themselves a doe-eyed look because it would make them more beautiful (and temporally blind themselves.)

[nekhram]

I live in a rural valley area and Foxglove grows EVERYWHERE, farmers have to go around cutting it out of their paddocks. I still really like Foxglove, very aesthetically pleasing.

[jennilocke]

I have a bunch of hemlock growing in my backyard. I've also had deadly nightshade and pokeweed pop up. The woods behind my house have snakeroot, stinging nettles, more hemlock, poison ivy, and probably some other stuff that i haven't ID'ed yet like mushrooms

Basically, dont go messing with a plant unless you're 110% sure it's not gonna mess with you back

[checkmate]

Oh I remember the story! I was at Home Depot and my mother was looking at Foxglove. I put my face really close to it and said "what a pretty flower!" And the Home Depot guy said, "Oh, yes! It's poisonous! Eating it could kill you."
I was very little and absolutely horrified. I've been terrified of Foxglove since, even though it's a very irrational fear.

[inksplatter]

Man, plants are just the most interesting thing. I would love more episodes on plant chemistry and biology, and how humans use/have used plants throughout history.

[ChandraArthur]

The Manchineel tree is actually quite common in Barbados, they grow along much of the shoreline, my brother and I played with them as kids when we were there visiting family. One of the Bajans noticed what we were doing and told us to stop and wash our hands in the ocean. We were both alright, but it was pretty scary. He kept asking us if we ate any of it and it was obvious that he was concerned. Fortunately, we didn't eat them, but they do look like small apples or quince that aren't ripe.

[BeardFaceSuper]

Moral of the story... Just don't eat random plants.

[M_Farias]

"you dont need to worry. they only are found in south america"
and i live in south america.

[kunaldeo]

Plant: These Humans eat us

Other plants: They have this thing called a heart

Plant: I'm listening

[drunkenrampage]

I'm going to try to guess 1 plant before I watch this video.

A nuclear plant.

[courtneymcfarland]

You should do a list of edible plants that happen to also be poisonous or dangerous- like fig tree sap which can cause horrible rashes & welts if you're not careful when trimming the trees, potato fruits which can be mistaken for tomatoes but are poisonous, skin burns & rash from when handling carrot foliage and UV exposure are combined, extreme drying & peeling of the hands when cutting & handling butternut squash that has not been cured/aged, etc. Good stuff to know, especially with the current trend of people starting to grow their own food again.

[runandarnell]

The old medicine woman, "Aunt Shawnee" was the last of her people in the area. She had stayed after a forced relocation of her tribe by the government and was likely in a lot of danger by being there. But she still chose to heal. Legends, both of them!

[jadyn]

“Deadly poison? OR delectable tea ?!?”

[goodun]

There's an interesting book titled The Poisoner's Handbook which is about the history of forensic medicine being developed and used to scientifically determine how and why people died from something they ingested, whether it was an accidental or intentional poisoning. A fascinating read, especially if you like exploring grim or macabre subjects. Forensic science got a particular boost in funding and research when prohibition led to huge numbers of people being poison from adulterated or badly made bootleg alcohol.

[TheeTurtleQueen]

the trick is to stay indoors 100% of your life so you will never encounter these plants

[thebigbois]

milk sickness unheard of




lactose intolerance: im a joke to you?

[wiamoaw]

You forgot Ricinus, no prizes for guessing what that contains. Atropine is also used as an antidote for a organophosphate poisoning and vice versa, they cancel each other out which is pretty cool.