# Are there any instant death berries in real life **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459 "2012-04-01T08:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/1 "2012-04-01T08:32:12Z")
Having seen Hunger Games last night, I wondered. They refer to nightlock berries which can kill you in a minute. This is a common enough trope in fiction, but is it necessarily true in real life? I know there are berries in the wild which can make you quite sick and kill you if you don’t get treatment, indeed it was a big problem in the Burma campaign for British soldiers. But, slightly bad milk can kill you if you are unlucky enough. Are there really berries which are, eat and be dead a few minutes later? Allergy attacks don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/2 "2012-04-01T12:15:54Z")
I immediately thought of the [Castor bean](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil_plant#Toxicity) of oil fame, which obviously isn’t a berry, but it turns out it’s not quite as bad as I had thought. ---
**Author:** ![Kamrusepas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@Kamrusepas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamrusepas)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/3 "2012-04-01T14:01:47Z")
[Belladonna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna) came to mind immediately. > [@](#): > > The consumption of two to five berries by children and ten to twenty berries by adults is probably lethal. The root of the plant is generally the most toxic part, though this can vary from one specimen to another. Ingestion of a single leaf of the plant can be fatal to an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/4 "2012-04-01T14:13:45Z")
Also not a culinary berry but bitter almonds have a lethal dose which can be as low as a dozen. Since it kills by the release of cyanide, death would be pretty quick. According to [the master](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/193/are-apricot-seeds-poisonous), > [@](#): > > Symptoms of cyanide poisoning are excitement, convulsions, respiratory distress, and spasms. Another warning sign is death, which can occur without any of the other symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/5 "2012-04-01T15:04:10Z")
In any event they also had hallucinogenic wasp stings and pit bull/mastiff hybrids the size of bears, so I could see there being some “gotcha” plants put there on purpose. ETA: I didn’t catch it but did they name the berries in question? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/6 "2012-04-01T17:11:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In any event they also had hallucinogenic wasp stings and pit bull/mastiff hybrids the size of bears, so I could see there being some “gotcha” plants put there on purpose. > > ETA: I didn’t catch it but did they name the berries in question? Yes, when Katniss comes back to find the berries lying on a coat. It’s also in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/7 "2012-04-02T05:30:31Z")
Not a berry per se. But there’s always [Cerbera odollam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerbera_odollam), commonly known as the Suicide tree. The kernels contain cerberin, a potent alkaloid toxin related to digoxin, a poison found in foxglove. No mention about how fast or how much is required, but I get the impression the dosage is extremely low. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/8 "2012-04-02T07:50:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In any event they also had hallucinogenic wasp stings and pit bull/mastiff hybrids the size of bears, so I could see there being some “gotcha” plants put there on purpose. > > ETA: I didn’t catch it but did they name the berries in question? Nightlock, nightlock, nightlock. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/9 "2012-04-02T12:27:01Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Nightlock, nightlock, nightlock. So, a hybrid cross between Deadly **Night** shade and Hem **lock**. Some [fungi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathcap) are poisonous enough that half of one cap would kill you, without medical intervention, up to and including a liver transplant. But it will take a week or two of jaundiced agony. Si ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/10 "2012-04-02T12:56:13Z")
Cecil has mentioned how to try to avoid the pitfall: [How to identify poisonous plants](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2919/im-on-a-deserted-island-how-can-i-tell-which-plants-are-poisonous) In terms of speed of results, he’s also covered [What the fastest acting, most lethal poison?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2707/whats-the-fastest-acting-most-lethal-poison') ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-instant-death-berries-in-real-life/617459/11 "2012-04-02T13:05:20Z")
I saw Death Berry open for Sisters of Mercy the other week.