The Rosary Pea
The fact that the rosary pea (Abrus precatorious) is used in the making of ornamental rosaries might lend it an air of respectability and safety, this is far from the truth depending on the state of the pea. Sometimes known as the “crab’s eye.”, this Indonesian plant made its way to the United States as an ornamental plant. With its pink flowers and delicate red and black peas, it now grows abundantly in the southern United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
Its beauty however, hides a terrifying secret. It takes less than 0.00015% of the toxin Abrin contained within its peas to kill an adult human. The good news is that as long as the skin of the pea remains intact, the pea is completely harmless. If for some reason you do manage to pierce the skin, the pea’s toxin has two ways to attack you, inhalation and ingestion.
If you inhale the toxin you’ll quickly experience nausea, fever, and pulmonary edema. If on the other hand you ingest the toxin, you first experience extreme nausea and vomiting (leading to dehydration), then your kidneys, liver, and spleen decide to shut down, followed by a very painful death. Unfortunately, there is still no known cure for the Abrin toxin, so it’s best to stay clear of the rosary pea.
1 thought on “8 Beautiful Plants That Just Want to Kill You!”
Thank you for this information I have small children around my yard often. Fortunatly I am aware of toxic plants in Fl. thanks to my garden club we hada speaker from UF to help us identify the dangerous plants . I don’t have any of the toxic ones in my yard.