Home ยป Casual Connoisseur
Casual Connoisseur
Poisonous Fruits and Plants in California
By Esther Schultz
All living things need some form of defense to survive. Plants are no different. Most plants contain some amount of toxin to ward off enemies trying to eat them. My mom found this out the hard way! While at college she thought it would look cute to put a daisy between her front teeth. What she didn't know was that buttercups are poisonous. The result? Her front teeth fell out!
So here's a run down of some of the deadlier fruits and plants that are found in California. Hopefully it will help prevent other dental disasters, or worse.
Fruits and vegetables
Many fruits and vegetables we consume on a regular basis contain poisons. Peaches, nectarines, cherries and plums all have edible fruit but poisonous seeds. Surprisingly, even apple seeds are not as harmless as they look: they contain cyanide! Fortunately our bodies can detoxify small amounts of the poison so you don't need to stop eating granny smiths, but in large enough quantities they could cause harm. Almonds, meanwhile, have edible seeds surrounded by poisonous fruit.
Most people are aware that nightshade is a poisonous plant. Not so well known is the fact that tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, and tobacco are all part of the same species. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant all have poisonous leaves, flowers, stems and roots while potatoes have poisonous leaves, flowers, stems and fruit. Green potatoes also contain poisons and should not be eaten (they go green when they have not been buried deep enough into the soil).
The blackberry-like fruit from the mulberry tree is another delicious fruit with a dark secret - if you eat the berries before they are ripe they can cause dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Elderberry wine might be tasty but the leaves, shoots and bark are all poisonous, and rhubarb pie should definitely not contain the leaves or leaf blades - eating them can be fatal! And don't forget that wild mushroom picking should only be done with a very knowledgeable guide - many types are poisonous and difficult to identify.
Plants
There are far too many poisonous plants to name them all here, so I have selected a few of the more potent ones to name and shame.
Oleander
Oleander is incredibly popular in California as a decorative shrub and the sticks are often used by children for cooking hotdogs or marshmallows. It is surprising, then, that it is one of the deadliest plants in the world. Just one leaf can kill an adult, and fatal poisonings have resulted from a small amount of exposure to the plant. Even inhaling smoke from burning oleander can be dangerous.
Castor beans
I bet I wasn't the only child that had castor oil poured down my throat. What I didn't know then was that castor beans contain one of the most deadly poisons in the world - ricin. One castor bean can kill an adult. Despite their toxicity, castor bean plants are grown abundantly in California for decorative purposes. Fortunately the ricin is removed before castor oil is served up to poor children. That didn't stop me from thinking my mother was trying to poison me.
Rosary Pea
A single bean from the rosary pea is just as lethal as a single castor bean. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous plants on earth. The seeds can be identified easily by their red color with a single black dot at the base. Due to their markings they are often referred to as ladybug seeds in California. Eating these seeds can result in imminent death.
Conclusion
Before you rip up your garden and throw out your fruit basket, here are some good rules to follow:
And don't forget - never put a buttercup between your teeth!