Fluffy's Language of Flowers: Poisonous Bulbs PSA
-HOLD IT RIGHT THERE BROTHER! Don’t go any further!!
Some plants don’t want to be your friends.
Some plants REALLY don’t want to be eaten, smelled, picked or even touched.
They may look beautiful to you, a person, but they are anything but beautiful to touch.
This is NOT a bouquet-tutorial.
These are flowers you need to recognize in the wild and you need to not touch because they are VERY poisonous.
One of the most deadly plants to humans has two scary-sounding names;“Monkshood”/“Wolfsbane”.(“aconitum”).
Some humans carried wolfsbane around because they thought that werewolves and vampires hated it.
Really the complete opposite is true: wolfsbane is one of the few plants vampires and werewolves can eat and they like it very much.
Humans must never touch, and especially not eat wolfsbane.
It is full of alkalines that can kill you in hours if you get enough on you. If you’re human and you see what looks like wolfsbane, always stay clear and probably keep your pets away from it.
Deadly Nightshades.(“atropa bella donna”) are also known as “Belladonna” flowers, or “beautiful death”.
It’s not just a spooky name; when they bloom they are a very pretty purple wildflower that looks like a long-bell.
Their fruits are these black berries. Belladonnas/Deadly Nightshades must NEVER be touched, or worse- EATEN.
Even their giant cousin flowers, Angel's Trumpets.(“brugmansia”) are toxic, which is why you must never eat them and always wash your hands after touching them.
Hemlock.(“conium maculatum”) is a very poisonous plant.
It grows in bushes and the tips are covered in these teeny tiny flowers.
You must never handle or touch hemlock- but a lot of people did because it’s a cousin-plant to parsley.
One of the prettiest flowers that you mustn’t touch, eat or sniff is called Oleander.(“nerium”).
You’d never know they are poisonous if you saw them though; they're very pretty pink and white flowers with a little extra pair of petals in their center. If you eat too many you may get really sick and throw them up. Their sap can hurt your skin and eyes.
Buttercups.(“ranunculus”) (yes, I know, they don’t look like cups) and Milkweed.(“asclepias”) both taste so bad upon eating that you’re almost sure to throw them up- but you still got to be careful even when you aren't eating them. Always wash your hands or use gloves after picking buttercups and milkweed.
Poppies.(“papaver rhoeas”) and Azaleas.(“rhododendra”) are also lightly toxic and should never be in reach of babies because babies put everything in their mouths.
And then there’s Lily-of-the-Valley.(“convallaria majalis”).
You’ve seen these before, especially if you live in Europe. These are little flowers that dangle in rows off a stem like little bells.
When the flowers are gone they give way to cute little berries…but, you must NEVER eat any part of this plant, no matter how cute it looks.
Lily-of-the-Valleys are VERY poisonous and cause abdominal pain and skipping heartbeats if you eat them...
Y’see, there ARE times when synthetic and faux flowers come in handy.
If you MUST have something like one of these plants in your mix, spring for a fake, definitely non toxic one…
You'll live longer, trust me...
