Wicked Plants Quiz 3 Flashcards
(10 cards)
marijuana
- used by humans for at least 5000 years, regulated/banned for the last 70
- regulated by 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, banned in 1951 as part of the Boggs Act
- Dioscorides mentioned the plant’s medicinal properties in his medical gude “De materia medica” in AD 70
- early drafts of the DoI were written on hemp paper
- hemp fiber used for clothing, paper, hemp investigated as a possible biofuel source, seeds used as food ingredient
- used in early patent medications, sold in Manhattan as a candy from 1864-1900
- produces a sticky, intoxicating resin also used to produce hashish
- all parts of the plant contain THC
- psychoactive compound that brings on a feeling of mild euphoria, relaxation, sense time is passing slowly
- not considered to be a lethal plant
- taxonomy still under debate
oleander
- Pliny the Elder thought it was an antidote against serpent venom
- highly toxic shrub is popular in warm climates around the world
- contains oleandrin, a cardiac glycoside, causes nausea and vomiting, severe weakness, irregular pulse, decreased heart rate
- toxic to animals
- only takes a few leaves to kill children
- in Sri Lanka, yellow oleander has become the most common method of suicide
- oleander also has a reputation as a medicinal plant
opium poppy
- Schedule II narcotic (has a high potential for abuse but can still be prescribed)
- possession of opium poppy plants/poppy straw is illegal, only seeds are legal to possess
- milky sap in harvested seedpods produces opium, which contains morphine, codeine, and other opiates used as painkillers
- been cultivated in the Middle East since about 3400 BC
- mentioned in The Odyssey
- records of its recreational use date back to the Middle Ages
- combined with a few other ingredients and distributed as medication called laudanum in the 17th century
- Bayer introduced opium extract named heroin as a cough syrup for children & adults in 1898
- banned in 1923
- today 3.5 mill Americans report having used the drug at some point
- at least 9.2 mill use heroin worldwide
- opium creates a feeling of euphoria, also depresses respiratory system, can lead to coma and death
- interferes with endorphin receptors in the brain
peacock flower
- used by slave women to end their pregnancies, so their children would not be born and beome slaves
- believed to help bring on menstruation
- became popular ornamental shrub among plant collectors in Europe
- grows in the southern US
peyote cactus
- conquistadores and colonists banned use of it in the New World
- forms the shape of a small button, with no spines
- eaten or made into tea
- initial effects: anxiety, dizziness, headache, chills, extreme nausea, vomiting
- hallucinations follow
- 1990: Supreme Court ruled the 1st am. does not protect N. Americans who wish to use the drug in the practice of their religion
- Congress amended the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to allow the use of peyote in N. American religious ceremonies
- mescaline is a Sched I controlled substance, possession is a felony
poison hemlock
- delivers an “easy” death
- Socrates: sentenced to death in 399 BC and given a drink with hemlock in it
- in the carrot family
- emerges in spring, finely cut leaves & pointed taproots look deceptively like parsley/carrots
purple loosestrife
- really pretty
- one of the worst invaders the American landscape has ever seen
- in 47 states, most of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Asia
- as many as 50 stems can sprout from a single, sturdy perennial tap root
- single specimen can produce over 2.5 mill seeds in a season
- clogs wetlands, waterways, chokes out other plant life, eliminates food sources and habitat for wildlife
- eradication campaigns cost about $45 mil per yr
- classified as a federal noxious weed, illegal to transport/sell in many states
- native to Europe but doesn’t cause as much damage there
- imported European bugs have worked as a form of biological control
ratbane
*produces the deadly poison sodium fluoroacetate
-also called Compound 1080
-used on/off until 1972 - US EPA banned it
>later allowed the USDA to continue using the poison in livestock protection collars, controversial
*grows in W Africa
*used in the 1940s to control rats and predatory animals like coyotes
*odorless and tasteless
*death comes in a few hours, preceded by vomiting, seizures, heart irregularities, and repiratory distress
*survivors may experience permanent damage to vital organs bc the poison lingers in the body
*2004: used by a mysterious serial killer to wipe out lots of aminals in a zoo in Sao Paulo
rosary pea
- Professor Joseph Nowack, Baron de Fridland, of Vienna, thought it could forecast the weather
- vine
- popular beads for jewelry making
- a single seed can kill a person
- abrin is the name of the poison
- attaches itself to cell membranes and prevents cells from making protein, which kills them
- causes nausea, vomiting, cramps, disorientation, convulsions, liver failure, and death
sago palm
*tough, slow-growing tree
*popular house plant
*all parts contain carcinogens and neurotoxins
*Guam
-poisoning caused mysterious variant of ALS on the island
>included nerve degeneration common to ALS, tremors associated w/Parkinson’s, and some symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s
-named Guam disease
*one of the most toxic plants that pets may encounter
*not actually a palm tree
