If you plant flowers and plants just to look good, then you don't have to pay too much attention to this article-plants that are poisoned at a glance are still rare. But if you are the kind of person who wants to taste everything, then there is only one answer to "how can ornamental plants be good?" Never eat uncertain plants!
The mobility of plants is basically zero, and it is impossible to avoid being eaten by fleeing predators like many animals. However, in the long evolution process of millions of years, plants have gained many defensive measures, one of which is to accumulate some substances that can cause harm to animals in tissues. One of the choices of human domesticated plants is to reduce the toxicity of crops, such as potatoes, tomatoes, bitter gourd and other vegetables. Although their plants contain toxins, it is not dangerous to eat the edible parts correctly. Domestication of horticultural ornamental plants is only for appreciation, and the main breeding goal is not to reduce toxicity during domestication. So many ornamental plants are as poisonous as their wild ancestors, but fortunately, these toxins generally stay in cells honestly, do not eat plant tissues, do not touch juice, and will not be poisoned.
There are quite a few groups of ornamental plants which are quite toxic. If you see them, don't be greedy-don't be short of hands.
Don't eat succulents indiscriminately.
Colorful and varied succulents are the new favorites in the flower market in recent years. A few years ago, it was reported that some imported succulents were poisonous, which caused quite a stir among gardening lovers.
Succulents are not a taxonomic group, but a general term for many plants with succulent stems and leaves and rich water storage tissues, including Amaranthaceae, Sedum, Cactus, Compositae, Euphorbiaceae, Aloe, Portulaceae, Apocynaceae and other groups of plants.
Among the common succulents, the main poison group is Euphorbiaceae plants, such as various "Kirin" of Euphorbia. Many of their stems and leaves contain white milk, which is strongly irritating and will have more serious consequences if eaten. This milk contains diterpenoids, toxic proteins, alkaloids and other toxic substances, diterpenoids are the main source of stimulation, and ricin, one of the most toxic substances in the world, belongs to a toxic protein [1]. When planting, be careful not to let the skin mucosa contact the juice, and of course don't eat it.
Inflorescences and leaves of broomcorn millet.
Not many succulents are poisonous except Euphorbiaceae. Tylecodon and cotyledon are common toxic species in Sedum [2], and some species in Pinus contain toxic substances [3]. The toxic components of these plants are mainly cardiac glycosides, which can cause arrhythmia-we won't talk about such substances. Some species of Asclepiadaceae, including various horns and bulbs, are poisonous [1], but in APGIII, Asclepiadaceae became Asclepiadaceae under Apocynaceae, and this pot was naturally thrown to Apocynaceae.
Araceae plants are not easy to mess with
Araceae plants mostly live in forests with primitive environment, are relatively shade-tolerant, and can grow normally for a long time even in poorly lit rooms, so they are good indoor green plants. However, there are many poisonous species in Araceae, such as Alocasia alopecuroides, Dieffenbachia picta, Phyllostachys pubescens, Calla calla and humboldtii. The specific mechanism of toxicity of Araceae plants is very complicated, and the relationship between various components and toxic effects is not very clear. The juice of many Araceae ornamental plants contains a lot of needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate and toxic protein [4], which has strong irritation. Not only can you not eat it, but it will swell and hurt as soon as you touch the skin and mucosa. If swallowed directly, it may suffocate due to respiratory irritation, and contact with eyes may cause severe conjunctivitis [1].
Although many places are commonly called alocasia, the calla lily in the picture and the real alocasia are not the same plant.
Take common taro as an example. It has a characteristic-when the humidity of the substrate and air is high, small droplets will be ejected from the blade edge and gathered at the blade tip. This phenomenon is called "spitting water", hence the name "dripping Guanyin". However, what drips from the taro is not the manna in the Guanyin bottle, but the poisonous water containing toxic substances such as needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate, cyanosides and aloin. Cases of poisoning due to eating plant tissues by mistake and spitting leaf water have occurred from time to time, and there have even been news reports that organ failure needs dialysis because of wiping wounds with alocasia leaves [5].
There is no specific medicine for taro poisoning. After skin contact, it can be washed with plenty of water, and the irritation will disappear after the needle crystal disappears. If it is oral poisoning, it is necessary to keep the respiratory tract unobstructed by instruments, and then treat it with catharsis, gastric lavage and even dialysis [6]. When viewing and building taro, don't let its juice enter the mouth or touch the skin.
When watching and making taro, don't let its juice enter the mouth or touch the skin!
There are many toxic substances in Amaryllidaceae.
A few years ago, there was a story in Weibo. British students bought daffodils (daffodils) as garlic shoots. At that time, professionals have made a detailed explanation [7]. In the Amaryllidaceae to which Narcissus belongs, there are no fewer poisonous plants than Araceae. The main source of toxicity of Amaryllidaceae plants is various alkaloids stored in vacuoles. The content of total alkaloids in Chinese narcissus bulbs is about 65,438 0%, mainly including theophylline, lycorine and pseudolycorine. It has been reported that 14 people were poisoned by eating 8 ~ 65,438+00 daffodil leaves together [8].
Unlike China daffodils, the whole flower of daffodils is yellow.
In addition to the above-mentioned daffodils and daffodils, common ornamental plants of Amaryllidaceae, such as Lycoris radiata, Zhu Dinghong, Melaleuca, Lilium Asiaticum, etc., also contain a large number of alkaloids mainly lycorine.
Be careful of colchicine when eating "vegetables"
There are also many poisons kicking the Allium and Amaryllidaceae around in Old Liliaceae. They must not like the fact that Allium belongs to Amaryllidaceae now. Good and evil will be rewarded. In the APGIII classification system based on molecular evidence, Liliaceae was finally torn. However, some "lily veterans" contain the same toxic toxin-colchicine.
The genus Colchicine, where Colchicine belongs, is now independent from Liliaceae, and together with other genera, it forms Colchicine. This plant has been planted in many gardens in Europe, and now many ornamental varieties have been cultivated through hybridization, which has gradually entered the sight of domestic lovers over the years. Colchicine The whole plant contains colchicine. The lethal dose of colchicine was 6. 1mg/kg in rats, 1.6mg/kg in intravenous injection and 0.125mg/kg in dogs. The average content of colchicine in dried bulbs is about 0.03%[9]. Based on this calculation, an adult weighing 60 kg may die if he eats 25 grams of dry bulbs or 150 grams of fresh bulbs. It has been reported that eating fresh bulbs of colchicine10 ~15g will cause dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea and unconsciousness [10], and one bulb weighs about100g, which means that one bite is enough to send to first aid. There is no specific antidote for colchicine poisoning at present, and the treatment can only rely on gastric lavage and atropine injection. In addition to acute toxicity, long-term intake of colchicine will also lead to abnormal hematopoietic function of bone marrow, and in severe cases, aplastic anemia will occur [1].
Different stages of colchicine mosaic. Every spring, colchicine grows leaves and accumulates nutrients in underground bulbs. Every autumn, after the leaves wither for a period of time, they pull out pedicels and produce beautiful pink flowers.
Among the common ornamental plants in Liliaceae, Eichhornia crassipes also defected to Colchicaceae with colchicine, so it inevitably contains colchicine. However, day lily, day lily and other plants originally belonging to the genus Hemerocallis in Liliaceae also contain this toxin. HEMEROCALLIS HEMEROCALLIS is now in a state of separation and combination, which can be divided into HEMEROCALLIS and HEMEROCALLIS. Fresh food poisoning caused by cultivated day lily is still reported from time to time. Among all kinds of daylily cells commonly used in gardening, the content of colchicine is higher than that of daylily, so you must not go to the flower bed to pick "daylily" to eat.
Lily "Old General" has other ways to kill people.
With the disintegration of Liliaceae, many genera were classified as Asparagaceae. The taxonomic status of these plants has changed, but their toxicity has not weakened at all-Lily of the Valley with fresh and lovely flowers is one of them. Lily of the valley is the national flower of Finland, and the French flower language is "to have happiness". Several varieties of lily of the valley are widely planted in gardens and are very popular. The white Cabanawa bright red berries of Lily of the Valley cover up many cardiac glycoside toxins, including Lily of the Valley toxin, cucurbitacin, cucurbitacin and so on. Eating it will make you anorexia (let you eat! ), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and arrhythmia, heart failure, etc.
Lily of the valley will give off a sweet smell when it is in full bloom, but don't eat it just because it smells good.
Other ornamental plants of Asparagaceae, such as hyacinthus orientalis, contain a variety of alkaloids, which are not only toxic, but also cause some people's allergies. The bulb of Allium macrostemon Bunge contains toxic glycosides such as allicin, which has the same cardiotonic effect as the toxin of Lily of the Valley. The lethal dose of intravenous tissue extract in mice is equivalent to 4 grams of leaves per kilogram [1 1].
In this way, it seems that the Liliaceae in APG III has been generally "washed white" (although Tulipa is still slightly toxic), but are you really sure that you can tell who is a member of this Liliaceae?
Digitalis armed with cardiac glycoside
In addition to lily of the valley and jujube, there is actually a more common ornamental plant-digitalis. Digitalis belongs to Scrophulariaceae in traditional taxonomy and is classified as a car record in APGIII. Digitalis will produce very high racemes in spring and summer, up to one or two meters, which is a very eye-catching high-inflorescence flower in the garden. Because they can increase the level of flower border, many kinds of digitalis are widely planted as horticultural flowers. More than 60 cardiac glycosides are extracted from digitalis, which can directly act on myocardium and improve myocardial contractility, and play a great role in treating heart diseases such as heart failure. The active ingredients in commonly used drugs cedilanid and digoxin are cardiac glycosides contained in digitalis.
The official name of digitalis in China is "foxglove". Although it's called this, it doesn't have much hair at all, which is simply weak compared with the furry rehmannia. Photo: shutterstock.com.
Although the curative effect is good, digitalis cardiac glycoside has a big disadvantage, that is, its therapeutic dose is very close to the toxic dose, and the poisoning rate can reach 70% when there is a general therapeutic dose [12]. Even under accurate calculation, the possibility of poisoning caused by eating fresh digitalis directly is higher. The dried leaves of digitalis can be poisoned by oral administration of 1 g, and fatal by 2 to 3 g [1]. There are many symptoms of digitalis poisoning, arrhythmia is the most important, and visual symptoms such as decreased vision, yellow vision and green vision are the precursors of poisoning. It is a little comforting that digitalis poisoning can be treated with antiarrhythmic drugs and specific antibodies [13], provided that medical treatment is timely enough and medical conditions are good enough.
Apocynaceae ... Needless to say.
As mentioned earlier, Asclepiaceae threw the pot to Apocynaceae, but many plants in Apocynaceae are highly toxic anyway, so I don't care about carrying more pots. The toxic substances in Apocynaceae plants are mainly cardiac glycosides and indole alkaloids [1]. The toxicity and mechanism of cardiac glycoside are similar to digitalis. Indole alkaloids can inhibit the activity of animal nervous system and hematopoietic cells, such as vinblastine contained in Catharanthus roseus. The lethal dose of mice is 15 mg/kg, even if it is not ingested for a long time.
Nerium oleander, the chief of Apocynaceae, is very toxic, and I believe everyone knows it.
Rhododendron: You'd better not taste it.
China is one of the countries with the richest rhododendron resources in the world, and more than half of nearly 1,000 rhododendrons are distributed in China [14]. There are about 600 varieties of azaleas in the world since the British began to cultivate them in the19th century, which are very popular whether planted in gardens or as indoor potted flowers.
Rhododendrons are colorful, and there are delicious fruits such as blueberries and cranberries in the same family, so there will always be people who want to taste the azaleas. But in Ericaceae, there are few non-toxic and delicious fruits like blueberries, and most of them are poisonous killers. Rhododendron is one of the most poisonous and common genera. The most representative toxin in rhododendron is veratrine, among which veratrine I(34-7) is the most important acute toxin source, which can affect the heart and nervous system of animals. The lethal dose of mice taken orally is only 5. 1 mg/kg. After taking it, mice will have symptoms such as vomiting, convulsion and muscle relaxation, and finally die of respiratory failure [1].
There are many kinds of rhododendrons, which are difficult to identify and the pedigree of hybrid varieties is more complicated.
There are about 60 species of rhododendron poisonous plants in China. At present, the ornamental rhododendron we see is the product of many interspecific hybridization in 100 years, and different varieties have different toxicity. Yunnan has a tradition of eating flowers, and there have been cases of poisoning after eating100g of fresh rhododendron [15]. Some rhododendron varieties have not been found to be harmful to people and animals, but they are toxic in animal experiments, so the best reaction is: don't eat a bite.
Don't learn comics and eat Ajisai.
In the cartoon "Hua San Li Mi", Ajisai appears frequently. From the beginning of the story, you need to use it to prepare the resurrection medicine. Zombie mother Li Mi also needs to eat its leaves often to prevent herself from rotting. In fact, Ajisai really can't be used as human food. Ajisai is a Japanese name, referring to hydrangea of Saxifragaceae. Hydrangea spherical cymes are mostly sterile flowers, each flower. Hydrangea has many horticultural varieties, and its flowering period is from early summer to autumn. It is an indispensable classic plant in Japanese gardens.
Hydrangeas have all kinds of gardening and colors.
The toxicity of hydrangea mainly comes from the intracellular hydrangea glycoside, as well as organic acids and coumarin, which is relatively not particularly toxic. Dogs will vomit if they take 200 mg ethanol extract per kilogram orally [1]. Although adults will not be life-threatening or become undead zombies after eating them, they will need medical treatment because of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
There are far more poisonous plants in the garden than those listed above, but lovers don't need to be afraid. Most poisonous plants will be poisoned only after eating, and a few will be poisoned after contacting with juice. If poisonous plants are planted at home, as long as you don't eat or touch them and wash your hands as soon as possible after touching the juice, there will be no danger of poisoning.
However, if you have children or pets at home, you need to pay special attention, because children are light in weight, their organs are not fully developed, and the dose and severity of poisoning are much higher than that of adults, while the physiology of pets such as cats and dogs is different from that of humans, and many plants that will not cause serious consequences to humans are powerful poisons for pets.