I think the correct species ID is Mucuna pruriens. Thanks,
Barry Stock Hollywood, Florida, USA On Jan 1, 2009, at 2:34 PM, Pankaj Oudhia wrote: > Nice information Bhattji. Some suggestions, > > "In Cowage (Mucuna pruritum) contact with pods and flowers causes > irritation and blindness if it is in the eyes. *All parts of the > plant are poisonous if eaten, and can be fatal.* > > Any reference? As pods as well as seeds and roots are used as > medicine and also cooked as vegetable. > > "Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) has yellow apple-sized seeds which are > violently purgative. All parts of the plant are poisonous. This is > found throughout the tropics and south USA.This Jatropha is looks > like the same species that is being developed as a bio-fuel." > > Please correct last line as > > This Jatropha is the same species that is being developed as a bio- > fuel. > > http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=217291&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22 > > Lantana fruits are considered toxic but it is popularly consumed by > village children. All parts of Lantana are used as medicine by > Traditional Healers nowadays. > > > I will go through the article thoroughly and send the suggestions, > if you wish. > > regards > > Pankaj Oudhia > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 12:08 PM, Anand Kumar Bhatt <[email protected] > > wrote: > I have writtten a short article on Poisonous Plants Of India. Hope > you like it. I am attaching some photographs as well, in this and > next mail. > akbhatt > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Some Poisonous Plants of India > > During childhood days, one heard stories about sadhus who were in > the habit of taking dhatura seeds which were considered poisonous. > One also read about vishkanyas in ficion and about poison arrows in > fact and fiction. The story about vishkanyas is fascinating, and so > is that of poisons in which arrow darts were slaked, both in the > tribal societies and among more civilized people. But let us first > take something more in our vicinity: poisonous plants. There are > several species which are poisonous or injurious to human body in > some way or the other. And you can find them in your garden or > planted by the Forest department as a roadside tree with or without > the knowledge about their effects on human body system. > > Poisoning can be by contact (causing skin irritation), ingestion > (causing internal poisoning), absorption (by the skin) and > inhalation (in the respiratory system). > Some surfing on the net told me startling facts. Some plants which > we consider harmless are actually not so. And many which are used > in some way or the other in medicines (especially in homeopathic > pharmacology), in raw from are certainly not so benign. > > > Let us start with Bakain, which is a sister to our famous neem tree, > known in English as chinaberry or scientifically as Melia azedarach. > (Neem is Azadirachta indica). All pats of Bakain tree are dangerous > if eaten. Leaves are used as insect repellents in stored grains > and we arre suitably warned that when those cereals are eaten, care > should be taken to remove all Bakain leaves from it. This tree can > be often found in our country either on the roadside, or in large > gardens, and one should be aware of its deathly qualities. Although > its fruit is poison to humans, birds gorge on it, and reach a level > of 'intoxication'. > > Oleander (Nerium oleander) Is another garden plant and all parts of > the plant are poisonous. Its wood if used to cook food can poison > it by the fumes. This bush has attractive flowers: pink, yellow or > white (tubular) or double pink flowers. One can find it all over the > country. My first posting was as Sub-divisional Officer in Jashpur, > a large subdivision of Raigarh district and connected by rail to the > district headquarters 213 kms. away. It was a small erstwhile state, > with majority of tribals in the area, and therefore not having > richness which could give it the opulence of Jaipur, Indore or > Gwalior. Well, duiring the state time there was an English Diwan who > had planted double pink oleander all through the road from Jashpur > to Raigarh in his area. It was the border of Kasabel development > block. There is another plant called Pangi (pangium edule) found in > South East Asia where all parts of the plant are poisonous > especially the fruit. > > In Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), all parts of the plant are > poisonous to eat. > The next is Lantana (Lantana camara) where all parts are poisonous > if eaten and can be fatal.It can also create dermatitis in some. > > Renghis or rengas tree or marking nut (Gluta) causes dermatitis > similar to poison ivy and poison oak (discussed later). > > Lantana, castor oil plant, oleander and marking nut tree are endemic > to India. > The other plant worth mentioning in this regard is Rosary pea (Abrus > precatorious) which is a vine, and has beautiful black and red > seeds. It is most dangerous and one seed is enough to kill an > adult. This is found in India sporadically. It is known as ghumchi > or ratti. Its seeds are surprisingly unvarying in weight and were > used by goldsmiths in our country to weigh gold. One seed was equal > to one ratti. One tola is 11.66 gm. 1 Tola is 12 Masha, and 1 Masha > is 8 ratti. So one ratti is about 120mg. Whereas one carat is 200 > mg.In Hindu gemology, especially related to astrology, ratti and > carat are considered and treated almost synonymously. I vaguely > remember that in my nana's village, he had planted a lot of henna > tres along the boundary of his homestead, and one of them had this > creeper whose seed pods dried and opened showing the red and black > gems inside. I also remember that as a child of 3-4 years I climbed > the bush (not much of mountaineering I assure!) and plucked those > seeds. But nobody told me then or later about its toxic properties, > for obvious reasons if anybody knew. > > Another plant I could mention is Strychnine tree (Nux Vomica). > Berries contain the seed which yield strychnine. Al parts of the > plant are poisonous, This is a native of tropics and non-tropics > of South East Asia and Australia. > > Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and poison oak (Toxicodendron > diversibba) cause serious contact dermatitis. Poison sumac > (Toxicodendron vemix) has similar effect. All parts of the plant can > cause serious dermatitis at all times of the year. This plant is > native to wet, acid swamps of North America. > > Renglas tree or the marking nut (which was used by our washermen to > mark the clothes wih distinctive mark of the owner so that their > clothes are not mixed up. lt has flowers similar to poison oak and > poison ivy and causes dermatitis. This plant is native to India, and > East and South-east Asia. > > Trumpet vine (campsis radicans) causes dermatitis. It is found > throughout eastern and central North America in wet woods and > thickets. > > Once I went on short course to Nainital, a nice and cosy hill > station in Uttarakhand. The blanket in the guest house there gave a > strong dermatitis, with itching sensation and urge to scratch for > 30-40 seconds, in the calf region. Any kind of dermatitis is not > something to be talked about, and so I kept mum thinking that in a > few days when I went back to Delhi, I would consult a physician. At > the end of the course, when we were going by bus to Delhi, one > fellow participant very coolly announced that now he was going to > scratch, and he did. Later I came to know that about half a dozen > trainees were thus afflicted which resulted from the room boys > sunning the blankets on the lawn. Why I mention this is that only > those who have had this can appreciate how violent the itching > sensation can become in some kinds of dermatitis. I don't remember > now, but I think the Nainital itching subsided after a few days on > its own. Or may be I used calamine on the advice of the physician. > Althoough I haven't done it ever (I was considered a studious type) > but in stories one heard of leaves which was put on teacher's chair > folloed by the violent reaction. > > I cannot resist the temptation of mentioning a few of more deadly > plants. Death camas or death lily (Zigedenus species )has onion-like > plant, but it does not have onion smell. All parts of the plant are > very pisonous. It is a native of US (North and East), and American > Western subarctic. > > Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is native to Eurasia and is > extrememly poisonous. Easy to confuse with carrot or Queen's lace. > At another place the writer has said that that it can be mistaken > for fennel, wild carrot or parsley, The habitat is swamp, streambank > and wet meadow. > > Water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) is also a deadly poison. Small > amount may cause death. This is again a native of US and Canada and > grows in swamps,wet meadows,stream banks and ditches. > > In Cowage (Mucuna pruritum) contact with pods and flowers causes > irritation and blindness if it is in the eyes. All parts of the > plant are poisonous if eaten, and can be fatal. > > The Manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) is extremely toxic. It can > cause serious dermatitis even after ½ hour. It is a native of > Florida and Caribbean. > > Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) has yellow apple-sized seeds which are > violently purgative. All parts of the plant are poisonous. This is > found throughout the tropics and south USA.This Jatropha is looks > like the same species that is being developed as a bio-fuel. > > Among some other popular Indian plants, the famous Raat ki > Rani(cestrum nocturnum) is poisonous, ncluding its white berry. > Dhatura (Dhatura metel)contains highly toxic alkaloids, the main > being scopolamine. This hallucinogen is present in highest > concentration in leaves and seeds. Often it is mixed with food > articles for robbing innocent passengers. This plant and its > intoxicant properties have been known in India since prehistoric > times. Shiva is associated with its flower and seeds. Madar or kanak > (calotropis gigantean and C. procera) is considered by many to be > poisonous, however its milky juice, flowers, rootbark and leaves are > used in medicine. It also attracts butterflies, and I don't think > that it has poisonous qualities. The flowers are of two colours: > purple and white. White is rarer, and its roots are used to carve > icons of Ganesh. > > You saw above how some poisonous plants resemble plants that are > used by men for eating and otherwise, and so one has to be very > particular in choosing what to eat if the plant is not known to > him. Good old days when I had some land in a village and my father > used to stay there, I remember that with a minor millet there used > to be some poisonous grass which was impossible to separate from the > grain plant whether in the beginning or at the time of harvesting. > So sometimes when the person ate that poison grain along with that > the cooked real grain, he used to sleep and sleep. He could get up > only in the late afternoon. This was a known phenomenon and nobody > bothered if somebody was thus affected. There is another pulse > closely resembling tuar which is known as Khesari, and if it is > eaten in the form of a loaf made out of its flour, it brings an > affliction known as lathyrism with twisted swollen knees. This low > grade pulse is used, hopefully not extensively, to adulterate tuar. > Argemone seeed has been used to adulterate mustard oil because of > its close resemblance to the mustard seed. There was a havoc in > Delhi a few years ago because of such adulteration. The use of such > adulterated oil in cooking brings lethal dropsy. > . > > We live in dangerous times and dangerous world. Dangerous times as > the world has become smaller and any plant seed can land up > anywhere. See the nuisance parthenium (gajar ghas which some people > jokingly called congress grass!) has created when it came with > Mexican wheat seeds (its flower causes skin irritation). Moreover, > it has become a weed. > > I think I have revealed enough to make you worried at least for the > night for you and your family. Next time we shall deal with > something more fictional and less nearer to you (vishkanyas and > arrow poisons!). Good night. > > -- > Anand Kumar Bhatt > A-59, B.S.F.Colony, Airport Road > Gwalior. 474 005. > Tele: 0751-247 2233. 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