# What's the most dangerous plant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054 "2005-10-26T20:14:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/21 "2005-10-27T14:28:10Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > alkaloids. That’s the term I was thinking of earlier… Don’t Alkaloids come in those nice tins boxes? My sister collects them for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/22 "2005-10-27T16:02:41Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Ricinus communis (the castor bean) has to be somewhere up there near the top slot; the toxin Ricin extracted from this plant is very very deadly - a single molecule of the stuff is apparently enough to trigger a metabolic cascade in a living cell, killing it. I would second (third) castor bean. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/23 "2005-10-27T16:21:14Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > That was gonna be my guess. I grow Ricinus in my garden; [gorgeous](http://arboretum.sfasu.edu/plants/annuals/Web%20Annuals/Ricinus%20communis.jpg) [plant.](http://gecko.gc.maricopa.edu/glendalelibrary/images/Ricinus_communis-1.jpg) Plus, when the first hard frost hits, the leaves sort of melt, and you get a crop of “squids on sticks” to scare the kids with on halloween. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/24 "2005-10-27T16:22:16Z")
quick search reveals some common N Am plants including waterhemlock which is reputed to be the most poisonous native to NA (“one mouthful can kill!” - from [http://trackertrail.com/survival/food/poisonousplants/waterhemlock/index.html](http://trackertrail.com/survival/food/poisonousplants/waterhemlock/index.html) ) however one rosary pea can kill an adult [http://www.inchem.org/documents/pims/plant/abruspre.htm#SectionTitle:1.2%20Family](http://www.inchem.org/documents/pims/plant/abruspre.htm#SectionTitle:1.2%20Family) here are some more common poisonous plants, some with estimated toxicity (2 beans to kill a child etc) [http://home.okstate.edu/tools/webtools.nsf/Images/hortext/$FILE/poisonousplants.pdf](http://home.okstate.edu/tools/webtools.nsf/Images/hortext/%24FILE/poisonousplants.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/25 "2005-10-27T16:44:17Z")
[Girl declared brain-dead after eating hemlock](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/645612/posts) ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/26 "2005-10-27T17:10:34Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Tobacco. Well if we’re going that route, how about sugar cane/corn/beets? Or any grain that ferments? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054/27 "2005-10-27T18:23:29Z")
> [@Love Rhombus](#): > > I have a very geekish reason for wanting to know this, but I will not bore you by telling you about it. Suffice to say that I recently became interested in the offensive and lethal possibilities of botany. I gots a question, I asks the smart peoples. So, what’s the really man-killer among the leafy set? The Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-plant/328054.md?page=1)