POISONOUS PLANTS

• Poison/Toxin:
a substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a
living organism when introduced or absorbed.
• Plants contain two principles;
 Toxic principles
 Medicinal principles
ALL THINGS ARE POISON.DOSE ALONE DECIDES THAT A
THING IS POISON OR MEDICINE.
About 80% of plant population serves medicinal purposes while
15-20% is toxic or have no medicinal effects.
• poisonous plant - a plant that when touched or ingested in
sufficient quantity can be harmful or fatal to an organism.
 PLANT TOXIC COMPONENT

Cannabis Sativa Resin(tetrahydrocannabinol,THC) in

plant
Abrus Precatorius Abrin , Abric Acid in seeds

Nicotiana Tobaccum Alkaloid (nicotine) in leaves

Digitalis Pupurea Glycoside(digoxin,digitoxin) in leaves

Datura Stramonium Tropane alkaloids(mainly in seeds and

leaves)
PapaverSomniferum Morphine alkaloids in friuts

Eucalyptus spp Eucalyptus oil and cyanogenic

glycoside
(leaves and bark)
ABRUS PRECATORIUS
• Common Name(s):Crab's Eyes, Jequirity, Rosary pea
Category:Poisonous Plants
• Family:Fabaceae
• Plant Description:It is a selender , perenial climbing woody
shrub about 10-20 ft hiegh.The stem is cylindrical ,wrinkled
with smooth textured and brown bark.
• Leaves are glabrous,alternate,stipulate and compound
paripinnate.slightly hairy on lower side.
• Flowers are pale voilet in color with short stalk arranged in
cluster.
• Seeds are ovoid,globular,5-9mm in length,hard,smooth and
shiny.
• Poison Part: Broken seeds
• Poison Delivery Mode: Injestion of chewed seeds
• Symptoms: After delay of hours or days: nausea, vomiting,
severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, burning in throat; later
ulcerative lesions of mouth and esophagus; can be fatal
• Toxic Principle: Abrin, a protein
• Constituents:
 Abrin
 Lactin
 Hemaglittin
 Glycyrrhizin
• Abrus Precatoriuos-Pharmacological Actions
 Antibacterial
 Anthelmintic
 Anti-viral
 Anti-inflammatory
 Anticancer/Anti-tumour
 Antiplatelet
 Antiprotozoal
 Antioxidant
 Immunomodulatory
 Antiplasmodial
 Antitubercular
• Abrus precatorious-Adverse Reactions
• Ingestion of abrus seeds resulted in pulmonary edema and
hypertension.Abrin can cause coma,confusion,convulsions,
Dehydration,and hypertension.
CANNABIS SATIVA
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Scientific name: Cannabis Sativa

• Family : Cannabinaceae
• Common name(s):
• Marijuana, hashish, hemp, marihuana, pot
• Family:Cannabaceae
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Description of the plant:

• Indian hemp is an annual dicotyledon herb that can reach up
to 3 metres high or more with suitable humidity and soil. The
stem is covered by rigid hairs, rough to the touch. Species are
male and female; the latter has more leaves. The leaves are
long-stalked, palmate, with 3-7 narrow and toothed leaflets.
The upper leaves are alternate and the low ones, opposite.
• Flowers are very small, green and have axillary branches
(Hardin & Arena, 1974). The fruit is oval, flat, 5 to 6 mm long
and 4 mm wide, with a light green colour. It has an
herbaceous strong smell and taste.
Leaf Fruit
Leaf

Flower
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Habitat: It grows in well-irrigated lands with warm weather,

blooming in the spring and summer.
• Distribution :The plant is originally from the Caspian and
Black Sea area, and was taken to Persia and India eight
centuries ago.
• The Cannabis sativa native to Central Asia has a world wide
distribution. It is cultivated in North, Central and South
America, in Asia, Europe and North and Central Africa. Major
producers include Mexico, Brasil, Paraguay, Colombia, Peru,
New Zealand and Arabia.
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• The Indian variety is cultivated in the Orient, Asia and North

Africa.
• Poisonous part:All parts, but greatest toxicity in flower stalks.
• Poison Delivery Mode:
Ingestion and inhalation
• Symptoms:Exhilaration, hallucinations, delusions, blurred
vision, poor coordination, stupor, and coma.
• Toxic Principle:Resins
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Chemical Constituents:
Cannabis consist of 15 to 20% resin, the resins are amorphous,
semisolid, brown coloured, soluble in ether, alcohol,and
carbon disulphide.
• The most important active constituents present in cannabis
are:cannabidiol, cannabidolic acid, cannabinol,
cannabichromene, and trans-tetrahydrocannbinol.
• Cannabis also contains Cannabidiolic acid, cannabidiol A 9,
tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabinol A9, Tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), volatile oil, trigonelline,and cholene.
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Treatment:
• Intoxication within 4-6 hrs.
• In case of over dose medical supervision is neede.
• Side Effects:
• Drowsiness, dizziness and lethargy are common. feeling of
loss of control, impaired memory,hallucinations, blurred
vision,muscle weakness.
• others include;
Euphoria,Moodalterations,Anxiety,Hypotension,Hypertension,
Tachycardia, Increased appetite, Nausea,Vomiting
 CANNABIS SATIVA

• Contraindications:
• Acute psychosis and other unstable psychiatric conditions
• Severe cardiovascular, immunological, liver, or kidney disease,
especially in acute illness Cannabis may exacerbate
arrhythmia or a history of arrhythmias.
DATURA STRAMONIUM
 DATURA STRAMONIUM

• Common Name(s):Jamestown weed, Jimsonweed, datura,

stinkweed, thorn-apple
• Family:Solanaceae
• Categories:Perennials, Poisonous Plants
• Discription;
 Plant is annual herb, about 3m tall woody below and
herbaceous above. Stem is bifurcatedly branched.
 Leaves are simple, large and unequilateral at the base.
 Flowers are white in colour and infundibuliform (bell shaped).
 Fruits are white, egg shaped, capsular and spiny.
• Height:2-5 feet
• Flower Color: white to lavender purple
 DATURA STRAMONIUM

• Poison Part: All parts, mainly seeds and leaves

• Poison Delivery Mode: Ingestion
• Symptoms: Hot, dry, and flushed skin, hallucinations, pupil
dilation, headache, delirium, rapid and weak pulse,
convulsions, and coma
• Toxic Principle: Tropane alkaloids
• Found in: Weedy in disturbed areas, along roadsides, old
fields, pastures, waste places; landscape as weed in gardens.
• Dose:Accidentally or intentionally ingesting even a single leaf
could lead to severe side effects.
 DATURA STRAMONIUM

• Treatment:
• Ipecac to induce emesis or gastric lavage.
• Activated charcoal to reduce absorption of toxic substances.
• Catheterization to empty bladder if necessary.
• Diazepam for hallucinations and delirium.
DIGITALIS PURPUREA
 DIGITALIS PURPUREA

• Common Name(s):Annual foxglove, Foxglove

• Family:Scrophulariaceae
• Categories:Annuals, Perennials, Poisonous Plants
• Description:Biennial herb with alternate, simple, toothed
leaves; flowers in a showy, terminal, elongated cluster, each
tubular, pendent, purple, pink, rose, yellow, or white and
spotted inside bottom of the tube; fruit a capsule.
• Height:24-60 in.
• Flower Color: Purple, white
 DIGITALIS PURPUREA

• Poison Part: Leaves, flowers, seeds; overdoses of the drug

digitalis.
• Poison Delivery Mode: Ingestion, confusion with Symphytum
(comphrey) and brewed into a toxic tea.
• Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, severe
headache, irregular and slow pulse, tremors, unusual color
visions, convulsions.
• Toxic Principle: Cardiac or steroid glycosides.
 DIGITALIS PURPUREA

• Treatment:Treatment involve drugs that would be used to

traet an overdose of the cardiac medication.
• Thismay include;
 Potassium chloride
 Atropine
 Phenytoin
 Oxygen
 Cardiac drugs such as propranolol or procainamide are also
used.
EUCALYPTUS SPP.
 EUCALYPTUS SPP.

• Common Name(s):Eucalyptus, gum, lemon scented gum,

silver dollar tree.
• Categories:Poisonous Plants, Shrubs
• Family:Myrtaceae
• Description:Evergreen trees with alternate or opposite,
simple, smooth-margined leaves; flowers in small clusters,
top- or bell-shaped, 4-petaled with many stamens; fruit a
many-seeded capsule.
• Height:6-25 ft.
 EUCALYPTUS SPP.

• Poison Part: Leaves, bark

• Poison Delivery Mode:Ingestion, dermatitis
• Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, coma. Skin redness,
irritation, and burning from handling leaves and bark.
Eucalyptus oil is extremely toxic if eaten .
• Toxic Principle: Eucalyptus oil and cyanogenic glycoside.
• Treatment:
NICOTIANA TABACCUM
 NICOTIANA TABACCUM

• Common Name(s):Tobacco
• Category:Poisonous Plants
• Family:Solanaceae
• Description: Stout, annual herb; leaves large, alternate,
simple, with sticky hairs; flowers tubular, cream, pink, or
green-white, 5-lobed at top; fruit a capsule with many, minute
seeds
• Poison Part: All partsPoison
• Delivery Mode: Ingestion
• Toxic Principle: Nicotine and other alkaloids
 NICOTIANA TABACCUM

• Side-effects:Nausea,vomiting,salivation,diarrhea,convuluions,
muscle twitching ,weakness.
• If large amounts are consumed and the nervous system is
depresssed,difficult breathing and a low heart rate may preced
heart failure,coma and death.
• Constituents:
• Tobacco contains the following phytochemicals:
• nicotine,anabisine(an alkaloid similar to nicotine but less
active),anethole,acrolein,nicotelline,nicotianine and many other
ingredients.
• Treatment:It involves removal of the plant material from the
digestive tract,along with supportive care to ensure breathing and
cardiac function until the toxin is eliminated from the body.
PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM
 PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM

• Common Name(s):Opium poppy, common popp

• Family:Papaveraceae
• Description:Erect annual with milky juice; leaves alternate,
simple, clasping, toothed; flowers terminal, with 5-more
showy petals (white, pink, red, or purple); fruit a capsule with
an expanded disc at the top and over small holes through
which the minute seeds are dispersed.
• Height:24-36 in.
• Distribution:Illegally planted, sometimes persisting in old
gardens
 PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM

• Poison Part:Dried milky sap from all parts, but mainly fruits.
• Poison Delivery Mode:Ingestion
• Symptoms:Stupor, coma, shallow and slow breathing,
respiratory and circulatory depression.
• Edibility: EDIBLE PARTS;Poppy seeds used as topping of
breads are safe.
• Toxic Principle:Morphine alkaloids and others.
• Chemical constituents:Opium contains about 25 alkaloids
among which morphine (10-16%) is the most important base.
The other alkaloids isolated from the drug are codeine,
narcotine, thebaine, noscapine, narceine, papaverine, etc.
 How To Prevent Poisoning:

• Keep houseplants out of a young child’s reach.

• Identify the name of all your plants,both indoors and
outdoors.Label each of your plants with the correct botanical
name.If you are unsure,bring a sample to a plant nursery or garden
center for help with identification.
• Do not eat wild plants, especially mushrooms.
• Mushrooms and berries are particularly attractive to young
children.Teach your children never to put mushrooms,berries or any
part of a plant including leaves,stems,flowers,bulbs or seeds in their
mouths.
• Mushrooms are especially abundant after a rainfall.Remove
mushrooms from your yard and dispose of properly after each
rainfall.
 How To Prevent Poisoning

• Do not make homemade medicines, shampoos, potions or

teas from plants.
• Avoid smoke from burning plants.
• Never chew on jewelry made from seeds, beans, or grasses
from plants.
• Recognize plants that may cause a rash, such as poison ivy,
poison oak, or bull nettle.
• Do not make toys or whistles from unknown flowers or trees.
 TREATMENT

Follow These Steps If Someone Is Exposed To a POISONOUS

Plant;

• Mouth
• Remove any remaining portion of the plant, berry or
mushroom.
• Save a piece of the plant or mushroom in a dry container for
identification.
• Have the person wash out the mouth with water.
• Check for any irritation, swelling or discoloration.
 TREATMENT
• Skin
• Remove contaminated clothing.
• Wash skin well with soap and water.
• Eyes
• Wash hands with soap and water to avoid further irritation to
the eye.
• Rinse eye with lukewarm tap water for 10-15 minutes.

DO NOT WAIT FOR SYMPTOMS TO APPEAR , CALL THE POISON

CENTER IMMEDIATELY