Trees are a great addition to any landscaping plan. They provide shade and privacy, attract wildlife and fill your yard with beauty. Trees can even be a quick source of food when needed.
However, while trees are generally a good idea, there are some trees that you do not want to find growing in your backyard.
There are some trees can be harmful to your health and some that are even toxic. It is essential to understand which trees are safe and which you should avoid at all costs.
Manchineel Tree
The Manchineel Tree, sometimes referred to as the Beach Apple tree, is found throughout southern Florida. Named the world’s deadliest tree by the Guinness Book of World Records, you do not want this beast growing in your backyard.
All parts of the Manchineel Tree are highly toxic, and a brush in with this terrifying foliage can have dire consequences. The fruit of the Manchineel resembles small green apples and is sweet, making them a target for curious children or weary wanders.
Unfortunately, these fruits are extraordinarily toxic, and consumption of these small apples can lead to severe stomach and intestinal issues, blistering and burning of the skin, inflammation, and even death.
The manchineel tree is so toxic, in fact, that they are often cordoned off, and warning signs are posted alerting passers-by of their deadly properties. It is said that taking shelter under a Manchineel Tree during the rain will lead to blistering of the skin and other harsh consequences.
It is best to avoid this tree if possible, and should you find one growing in your yard, call a professional to remove it. Smoke from the burning wood of the Manchineel tree can cause blindness, respiratory issues, and even death in some cases. Every part of this terrifying tree is highly toxic to humans.
Sandbox Tree
The Sandbox Tree is terrifying, and it belongs on any list of the most dangerous trees. Found throughout the Americas, the Sandbox Tree has sharp spikes along its trunk and poisonous sap that can cause a nasty rash.
Worse than its ferocious exterior, however, are the small green fruits that garnish the branches of this frightening tree. What makes these small pumpkin-like fruits so deadly is that they tend to explode without warning. Yes, you read that right.
Once these fruits reach maturation, they can suddenly explode, catapulting their seeds at speeds upwards of 240 km per hour. Anyone in the path of this tree may be in serious trouble if these rogue fruit seeds strike them.
While these trees may sound like something out of your nightmares, they do have their uses. Fishers sometimes use the milky sap of the Sandbox Tree to poison fish. It has also been used to create poisonous arrowheads for battle throughout history. Oil extracted from the tree makes an excellent laxative and is used to treat ailments around the world. The leaves are used to treat eczema, and when correctly handled, the extracts of this tree can treat rheumatism and intestinal worms.
Other names for The Sandbox Tree include monkey’s dinner bell, monkey’s pistol, and possumwood.
Milky Mangrove
The Milky Mangrove usually grows close to bodies of water and may develop as a shrub or a tree. Milky Mangrove trees can reach 15 meters and feature gray or fawn-colored bark and pale green or yellow leaves.
This tree, primarily found in and around Australia, gets its name from the milky sap it produces. This sap is highly toxic, causing severe skin irritation or temporary blindness.
Despite its toxicity, this sap treats various diseases, including chronic ulcerous disorders such as leprosy.
Related: 7 Foraging Mistakes That Might Get You Killed
The Mangrove Tree itself is often used to promote pollination for beekeeping, and the wood of the tree is used as incense and in canoe construction. The Mangrove Tree protects shorelines and provides a habitat for many different forms of marine and terrestrial wildlife.
Oleander
Oleander is more of a shrub than a tree, but this beauty packs a punch. The trees flower from early summer until mid-autumn and have large clusters of red, yellow, pink, or white blossoms. With time and patience, an Oleander bush can be trained into a single trunk tree. However, in its bush form, it provides an excellent source of privacy, making it a popular garden choice.
Although beautiful, Oleander is toxic to both pets and humans.
Thus, you may want to avoid planting this splendor in your garden. Every part of the Oleander tree is poisonous, and ingesting even a tiny amount of this magnificent flowering plant may be deadly. This plant holds two distinct toxins, oleandrin and neriine, both of which can lead to severe illness or possibly even death.
Symptoms of Oleander poisoning include heart rhythm disturbances which are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, cramping, and bloody diarrhea. Oleander can also cause confusion, dizziness, weakness, drowsiness, and visual disturbances.
Despite the danger that Oleander presents, the seeds and leaves are used to make medicine. Oleander is used to create drugs for heart conditions, asthma, epilepsy, cancer, painful menstrual periods, leprosy, malaria, ringworm, indigestion, and venereal disease. Oleander is also one of the main ingredients used in medications that cause abortions.
Although Oleander is an attractive addition to any garden, you should heed the warnings or suffer the consequences.
The Strychnine Tree
A medium-sized evergreen tree, the Strychnine tree, commonly found in Southern Asia and Australia, is the primary source of Strychnine – the fatal poison used in the movies to kill cheating husbands.
The tree itself is rather unremarkable, growing to around 36ft. in height. The wood of this tree is white, dense, and durable and has irregular branches covered in smooth, ashen-colored bark. The tree also produces funnel-shaped, foul-smelling flowers that grow in small clusters throughout its branches. The leaves, around 4 inches long and 3 inches wide, are oval-shaped and grow in alternate pairs. Along with pungent flowers, you will find small fleshy berries close.
These berries are orange-red and approximately 4 centimeters in diameter. Strychnine berries are covered in a hard, smooth shell that contains the jelly-like pulp inside.
Within each berry is five seeds that are very hard, flat, and round.
The distinct seeds of the Strychnine tree are where the deadly poison is contained. However, all parts of this plant are poisonous, from the roots and bark to the leaves, berries, and seeds.
Strychnine is a highly toxic material acting on both muscular and nervous systems. Exposure to Strychnine can cause tetanic tonic contractions and lead to death. Symptoms of Strychnine poisoning include violent convulsions, high blood pressure, confusion, vertigo, dullness in the head, internal soreness, acute headache, sensitive scalp, pressure in the temple and/or head, pressing pain in the eyes, pressure in the ears coupled with complaints of a hissing noise, swelling of the gums, ulcers in the mouth, pain in the teeth, a heavy tongue, and paralysis.
Besides being the go-to poison in Hollywood Blockbusters, Strychnine trees have been processed into cancer treatments.
The dried seeds are used for the treatment of neuro-disorders, arthritis, and vomiting. This plant has different uses as a herbal remedy in Chinese medicine, as reported in medical literature. The Strychnine tree and its properties are used in formulating more than 60 Indian systems of medicine.
Angel’s Trumpet
Angel’s Trumpet is a bell-shaped flower that is popular in gardens. Considered an annual Shrub, this plant can grow up to 20 feet high. Angel’s Trumpet comes in orange, white, pink, and yellow. This plant blooms in spring, summer, or fall and is known to keep deer at bay.
Although pretty and popular, Angels Trumpet is poisonous and holds poisons such as tropane alkaloids within its folds. These toxins might cause severe hallucinations, often known for putting people into a zombie-like state.
Angel’s Trumpet is a fast-growing plant. With a fair amount of sun, this plant will produce flowers all summer long. Although Angel’s Trumpet is in the shrub family, most varieties form small trees with a central stem.
Related: Edible and Non-edible Mushrooms you Find in Forests
All parts of the Angel’s Trumpet Plant are poisonous. You must understand the dangers of this beautiful plant and place it with care.
Angel’s Trumpet should not be planted in areas where children play or where pets frequent. Angel’s Trumpet has been banned in several communities because of its highly toxic nature, so be sure to check city ordinances before planting. All parts of the angel’s Trumpet are considered poisonous.
The alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine contained in this plant can cause serious harm.
If ingested, Angel’s Trumpet can cause disturbing hallucinations, paralysis, tachycardia, and memory loss. Consuming Angel’s Trumpet can be fatal. However, Angel’s Trumpet has been used ritualistically and as herbal medicine by indigenous peoples and their shamans.
Part of the nightshade family of plants, Angel’s Trumpet flowers and leaves are often used to create various medicines. Angel’s Trumpet is sometimes used recreationally to induce hallucinations and instill a feeling of euphoria. However, the use of Angel’s Trumpet is hazardous, and it should never be willingly ingested.
Although dangerous for recreational use, Angel’s Trumpet has been used for centuries in India to treat various ailments.
One of the only remaining uses of Angel’s Trumpet is the treatment of asthma. While some painkillers were available that contained extracts of this plant, they have since been banned due to widespread misuse. Angel’s Trumpet is also known as Jimsonweed, Thorn Apple, or Devil’s Trumpet.
‘The Suicide Tree’
The seeds of ‘The Suicide Tree,’ also known as The Murder Tree or Cerbera Odollam, have reportedly been used in more suicides and murders than any other plant in history. This tree, native to India and other parts of southern Asia, contains a toxin called cerberin. This potent compound disrupts the function of your heart muscles, leading to an irregular heartbeat that can be fatal.
The flavor of this poisonous plant is easily disguised in food, and medical examiners notoriously overlook the toxin. Due to this, some refer to cerberin as the perfect murder weapon. In fact, between 1989 and 1999, Cerbera odollam reportedly caused more than 500 deaths in the Kerala state of India alone.
Related: How to Make a Natural Remedy for Food Poisoning
Symptoms of Cerbera odollam poisoning include a burning sensation in the mouth, vomiting, headache, irregular heartbeat, and respiration. It can even lead to coma and, as noted above, death.
The fruit of the suicide tree is not without its uses. Scientists manufacture bioinsecticides, deodorants, and feedstock for use in the production of biodiesel.
So despite being one of the most poisonous trees, it does have at least some benefits.
Hemlock
Probably one of the most notorious trees on this list, the Hemlock is best known for its use in ancient Greek culture as a means of execution and suicide. Claiming its most famous victim when the philosopher Socrates took his own life in 399 BC., Hemlock has a place in history and lore. However, despite its violent, romanticized past, Hemlock is still quite common and highly toxic to humans.
Found throughout the United States, ingesting even small amounts of any aspect of this plant’s potent toxin will cause ascending muscular paralysis. This paralysis can eventually reach the respiratory muscles and result in death.
The Hemlock plant has white flowers that grow in clusters, and the stem is decorated with purple spots. The Hemlock plant will grow up to 9 ft tall and produce flowers year-round in some locations.
This poisonous tree was first introduced to the U.S. as a garden plant from Europe but is considered a noxious weed in 12 U.S. states, including Oregon and Washington. Purposely planting Hemlock is illegal in many places.
While all parts of this plant are dangerous, the leaves are particularly toxic. Poisonous Hemlock affects nerve impulse transmission to your muscles, eventually killing you through respiratory failure. Until the leaves produce flowers in the spring, even small amounts of Hemlock leaves can kill a grown man or leave him in bad shape.
Even briefly touching Hemlock can cause severe skin reactions in some people with no known antidote. The biggest problem with Hemlock is that it is often mistaken for parsley or wild parsnips and unknowingly ingested. Hemlock is a primary cause of accidental poisoning.
Symptoms of Hemlock poisoning include burning in the digestive tract, trembling, increased salivation, dilated pupils, muscle pain, weakness or paralysis, rapid heart rate followed by a dramatic decline in heart rate, loss of speech, convulsions, loss of consciousness, or coma. In more severe cases of Hemlock poisoning, you might see central nervous system depression, respiratory failure, acute rhabdomyolysis or a breakdown of damaged skeletal muscle, acute renal failure, and death.
Horse Chestnut
The Horse Chesnut became popular because of its beautiful flowers. This tree thrives in mild climates and provides many benefits, providing you do not consume the raw seeds.
When consumed, raw seeds from a Horse Chesnut can induce nausea, vomiting, extreme thirst, and in some cases, may lead to paralysis and death. Toxic to both humans and animals, the Horse Chesnut is one tree you want to avoid while enjoying nature.
Horse Chesnut Trees have distinctive white flowers, whose branches are pink at the base. The fruit of the Horse Chesnut is encased in an unmistakable green, spikey shell that holds the toxins within.
These trees can grow up to 125 ft high or more, so you can’t miss them, and they should be avoided.
Poison Oak
While this is not a tree but rather a vine or shrub, it is common to find Poison Oak growing up trees along walking trails or in thick brush.
It can be recognized by its distinctive scalloped leaflets grouped in threes on the branches.
It has red along the edges of its leaves and also sprouts small white flowers during the spring.
Poison Oak causes a severe skin reaction in those who touch it, and ill-prepared hikers may find that their ankles are covered in blistering sores if they pass through poison oak on their journey. Poison Oak will cause rashes, burning, blistering, and swelling ranging from mild to severe depending on exposure.
The oil of the Poison Oak can also get on clothing or pets’ fur and be transferred that way, often making it challenging to discover the source of poisoning.
Rashes and blistering from Poison Oak are very painful and can last for long periods. The aftereffects of poison oak can cause scarring in more severe cases. Due to its commonality, it is best to understand and know how to identify this plant if you plan to explore nature.
Enjoy time outdoors, but do so with caution. If you plan to hike, it is best to wear clothes that cover your arms and legs and avoid touching any plants or trees you do not recognize. Researching where you plan to hike can also help you avoid a painful or even deadly encounter with any of the trees we have listed here.
You may also like:
What Cowboys Built And Did Around The House To Be Self-Sufficient
If You See This Plant, Whatever You Do Don’t Touch It! (Video)
What Foods You Should Never Cook Inside
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is not a tree. It is an herbaceous plant in the parsley family.
The tree hemlock (Tsuga species) is a conifer that is not related to poison hemlock.
True that, hemlock resembles Queen Anne’s Lace and wild carrots but has a lot of purple on the stems. It sends a lot of inexperienced foragers to the ER. No one knows what poison the Athenian Government gave Socrates, he had a lovely peaceful death, Hemlock causes violent painful convulsions and is a terrible way to go. Main thing to remember, don’t say bad things about the state.
The American horse chestnut species can be used to extend your food supply in an emergency, the seeds have to be peeled then boiled 20 minutes until soft, Once dried out they can be ground to a bitter but edible flour. I have a couple small native ones on the margin of the woods, they have beautiful flowers and can grow in my yard anytime.
When I was a young tad, almost a century ago there was a house on the way to school that had several huge horse chestnut trees. The game was to gather a bunch of the chestnuts in your lunch pail and have wars with them at recess and lunchtime. Wow! That would surely get a kid in serious trouble these days. We also used to play mumbly-peg with our pocket knives and pitch pennies at school. Today we would all be under the supervision of “child protective services.” Considering how many kids are killed by the adults supposedly caring for the victim I wonder how the “Child Protective” folks can call themselves that with a straight face.
Those are the worst cases to have to work on. Give me five straight, nice clean drug-dealer-to-drug dealer murder cases any day over a child abuse case.
A child abuse case was one of the compelling reasons why I quit working as a certified shorthand reporter
It’s too long a tale to recite here and totally off topic.
There are 2 types of Hemlock, conium m causes paralysis which moves from the lower extremities upward until you suffocate and the heart stops.
Water hemlock, Cicuta, causes violent seizures and purging. It looks similar to Conium, both look similar to wild parsley and wild carrot.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
learning is fun and entertaining… i love it !
In Australia Hemlock is found in many places, roadsides being a popular place for it to grow. Apart from the description, the smell is a definite tell tale sign. It smells like Mice.
I did not know hemlock grew in AU. I do know Queen Anne’s lace grows on the road verge around the Dandenong, we use to pick it for cut flowers lol.
Interesting, and good to know. Thank you.
Interesting
How about the stinging tree?
The Stinging Tree is a scary one. However, it is usually only found in AU and other limited areas. Thus, it was not included here for that reason. I will say, the Stinging Tree (or gympie-gympie) is one that is concerning and the stories of pain that surround it are a thing of nightmares. It is more of a bush than a tree though if I am not mistaken. I know that the effects of a sting from this terrifying plant can last a very long time and are said to be extremely painful. I am glad it does not grow where I live, and it is considered an endangered species in South Whales. It is an interesting one though thanks for sharing.
A crime lab technician in this county poisoned her husband with oleander. She was convicted of first degree murder. Poisoning always elicits a first degree murder charge.
The CA highways folk used to plant oleander along the highways and in the center dividers. It is very drought resistant and made good landscaping. Now they have plantings that must be watered — in a time of severe water shortage Way to go , CalTrans.
Perhaps they thought the homeless might be injured by sleeping among the oleander bushes —nah, that’s too complicated for them to figure out.
Don’t you know that everything in the PDRK is labeled bad for you because of that?
The absence of oleander in highway medians is not completely the fault of the “Ca highway folks”.
back in the 80’s there was disease that infected and killed off huge swaths of oleander (we lost most of ours to it) most oleander was either killed by it, or removed to stop the spread of the pathogen, and keep it from affecting other plants.
the plant was the median planting of choice for Ca. when growing thick it reduced headlight glare from cars on the opposite side, and could slow down & stop cars that left the highway with minimal injury to the passengers (unlike trees and K rails)
That is very interesting, I did not know about this at all. It makes sense that it was used to block the glare from headlights, given its thickness. It is a shame that it is not there any longer as it is truly a beauty, but given its potential for harm, it is probably a good thing.
Oleander grows all over Texas.
Lonnie: Same in my part of Arizona. A mulch of leaves chases off packrats and ground squirrels and insects, ants, and so on. Branches make good arrow shafts, crossbow bolts, and rot-resistant lathes. Even that thing hath it’s uses. niio
I am sure there have been a few that have done this, sadly.
The brilliant folks running the military family housing in San Diego in the 1950s planted every yard with oleander. Just about all of the landscape plants were either toxic or damaged car finishes, or smelled really bad, or made an awful mess.
That’s the Feds for you.
That’s the federal version of CalTrans.
That is very interesting and honestly very disturbing… I don’t think I would have let my kids out to play there.
Vincent Price tried to poison second wife Gene Tierney with oleander in the movie “Dragonwyck”, based on the novel by Anya Seton, having successfully killed his first wife the same way.
As far as horse chestnut goes, it’s not that toxic if you don’t eat the nuts. We had one in our yard when I was a kid, and I used to collect the glossy brown nuts and play with them. They are beautiful shade trees, but the flowers make a mess when they start falling off, and there are large, very sticky leaves around the closed flower buds that will gum up your car if you are parked under a tree. You need to use soapy water to remove them.
Old-timers often carried a nut in their pocket to ward off arthritis, and it’s often used in liniment for leg cramps and varicose veins.
I’ve been told by my dad that my great grandfather always carried a buckeye seed in his pocket for good luck.
That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing. They do look like they would make great shade trees, and if you don’t mind washing your car daily would be pretty in the front yard. I find it interesting that carrying them in your pocket is thought to ward off illness. Pretty cool.
Sounds like good material for building the border wall. It deters border crossing and is self propagating. As it grows the border wall gets thicker and deadlier.
And the sandbox tree also. Spikes and exploding fruit.
This is the one I find most terrifying. Imagine being out on a picnic and having the tree you are parked under attack you with its killer, exploding fruit? Honestly, this is terrifying. I would never go outside again.
Zero: Foxx in Mexico was doing that but using natural to the area plants. People on both sides of the border are planting cactus, mesquite, and other things that stop invasion of wetbacks. niio
Juniperus ashei which is slowly killing me producing its incredible amount of wind borne pollen, the dominant fire disclimax species in the Texas hill country. Eyes, face, and ears burning, choking sensation, impressive quantities of snot being expelled by the majority of the population. Releases pollen December through March. John the Revelator somehow left this torture out when he wrote the 16th chapter of Revelation.
Judge, After your comment, I looked at info on Juniperus ashei. It looks like you are among the many who do not have a fun time when the pollen is out and blowing in the wind. I guess you’re not going to collect the juniper berries to make some gin.
I might have put sagebrush in my on-line name but I avoid the areas covered with sage when it is in bloom.
In reference to allergies, I will be ordering some good ol’ fashioned hankies to have on hand when kleenex might be limited.
Hankies can be made from a cotton bed sheet. When they wear thin is just right to repurpose. Tear into squares, hemming is optional
Ginny, You are right about repurposing well worn bed sheets for hankies. I looked at what was on line ready-made. There were some vintage looking lovely ones but the prices were just too low. I would think that with such low prices that they’re using slave labor to make them so I won’t be ordering any. Your idea is much better.
Ginny, excellent idea and much better than throwing these away or spending money that you do not need to spend.
Judge, can you access manzanita berries? Manzanita needs juniper to survive seedling stage, then kills it. One thing I had done before coming home was go to an allergist and get serum shots against tree pollen. Ginger helps, as well. niio
Locally harvested bee pollen helps with allergies too, start with a few grains each day and build up to a pinch night and morning once you’re used to it.
Datura is used by American Indian witches. Get caught with it on a reservation and someone will decorate your chest with an ax. The ax is a woman’s weapon and considered full power over evil.
Oleander is illegal in a lot of nations because it’s toxic. Animals will try the leaves and it kills them. Children have tried them and died. It’s a drought resistant wet-tropics weed. It doesn’t reproduce in our state, thank God. It’s major use is scaring off pests. A handful of leaves in a packrat burrow and the whole bunch runs off. Same with ground squirrels. If the leaves are used as a mulch, so much the better.
Red,
This is going to be a question that might be a little strange to you but, here goes. Do you have any friends up north in either the Swinomish Tribe or the Tualip Tribe? I had a dream a few days ago that might have a connection to one of those tribes. In the dream I was in a car being driven throughout the area where those two tribes have land. Many of the road signs for area names had been changed. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the complete name that they had been changed to. It was either a four letter or five letter name. It began with the letter “P” and had a break in the name with an apostrophe somewhere in the middle of the name. After seeing many of those new blue signs in my dream, the dog woke me up.
A few years ago, the Straight of Juan de Fuca was changed on some maps to the Salish Sea by some of the area tribes so it wouldn’t be too far fetched to have more names changed.
This has zero to do with prepping but I thought that maybe you have heard something in the grapevine.
Sage: no, sorry, but the only folks I know up there are from Arizona. We dream for a reason, often it means something that we need to be patient about to find that meaning. Always, go to God and ask about it. niio
Red,
Thank you for the answer. I will pray about it.
I have some nice memories of the people of the Swinomish Tribe. Some time around 2003, I was at an assisted living place (non-tribal) across the channel from the Swinomish main meeting house when a sweet group of teens from the tribe arrived at the assisted living bldg. They had several trays of Poinsettia Plants with a Gospel of John tucked into each plant for the residents as Christmas presents.
Long as they don’t try to axe me… I may axe back. Interesting you mention that, since I’ve been quite curious about using datura. Since I don’t talk to the tribe I’m chaulking it up to ansestral knowledge. I’ve been into herbs both beneficial & baneful for over 3 decades now. And yes, I count myself a witch, even if my tribe would disapprove.
Hawthorn: Users of datura usually wind up burned out and murderous. When back east, I helped Dominican curanderos get the roots, but we also had an American Indian skinwalker living near us. Her used to mock me and stole from me. I told him to stop or I’d have to retaliate. He thought that was funny. I hung a little something with some raven feathers on it, on the clothes line. Raven does love to play little, innocent jokes on unclean spirits. He thought that was funny, too, till he got ready to go for a run by moonrise. Screams, cursing, glass breaking, furniture sailing out his apartment window.
Dominicans generally have a live and let live attitude. Someone couldn’t take it and called the cops. He beat up a few of them and threw them down the stairs. They doped him two or three times more than it would take a norm. He was still growling and trying to bite them as the e-squad hauled him off to the mental ward.
As I understand, he got a bad root. To this day I have no idea how to tell a good one from bad. But, the root is good for emergencies. ONLY emergencies. Every real sacred person must needs under stand both good and evil as a personal thing. niio
I think another name for Angel’s Trumpet is Moonflower.
I’d like to confirm and strongly warn that the author’s claim that this plant can cause severe disturbing hallucinations and death are true.
I know a young man who, when he was in junior high school and on the cross country high school track team, was pranked by three boys and given a tea made from the seeds of the moonflower plant. They told him it was an herbal tea. Being young and dumb, gullible and trusting can be a dangerous combination. When the young man was taken to the ER his heart rate was over 200 times a minute. The doctor told the family he was over dosed on something but couldn’t identify what it was. The father finally learned what had happened and told the doctor. The doctor told the family, including this young man, in a few years before he had seen 4 cases of this happening. The doctor said 3 of those young kids had died. He said the young man’s physical condition may have helped save his life.
After the young man was released from the hospital he told me about the hallucinations. The black demons that carried off the man in the movie Ghost is what he said he saw every time he went to sleep. They were on the walls and ceiling and coming after him. He’d wake up screaming.
Watching what he went through was horrible. I hope nobody ever has to witness anyone experiencing those kind of hallucinations.
There is a great story about an American town that was laid siege to by British troops during the revolutionary war.
It was the onset of winter, and the town had plenty of food stored, but the surrounding British troops were starving.
Out of desperation (as they would typically do at the time) they rounded up some of the local vegetation, cook it and feed some of the troops, if there was no bad side affects, they would then feed the rest of the troops.
Both the Americans and British reported those who ate the food went “mad” stripping naked, running around, climbing trees yelling, screaming, howling at the moon etc. for about two days, many recovered, some died, many didn’t remember what they did.
The next day, the British troops broke camp and quietly left.
They then named the plant after the town, or the guy whose idea it was -“Jimsonweed”
Moonflower, the plant I know, is related to morning glories, and the seeds are toxic. Datura, the so-called sacred Datura, is also called death apple. Witches like skinwalkers use the root. niio
You make a good point, as you did in your reply. Skinwalkers are evil though. I am no angel but I’m not evil like that. I’m a healer; just interested in the root itself, not for nefarious purposes.
Hawthorn: I’m not saying you are, but the root. As said, a sacred person–meaning holy driven person–needs to know good and evil. Nor do I fault those curanderos who wanted the root, tho they tend to obay, the dark side.
To each their own, my people say. We lost so many people so fast at different times unless someone is totally evil, we tend to accept them, even skinwalkers. Where the root is good is bleeding. It causes coagulation of even severe wounds. One skinwalker up at Shiprock took 16 bullets from the cops until he stopped moving. Not dead, not yet, still growling and snarling, but lost too much blood to attack. But, he never bled out. This is something I will not get into. Be blessed. I wish you the best, may it never harm you.
http://medicinalherbinfo.org/000Herbs2016/1herbs/jimson-weed/
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/datura.html
Ginny and Sagebrush Lin:
Check the material, too. 100% cotton is far more absorbent and softer than synthetic or cotton/synthetic blends. You can do a burn test on a couple of threads if you’re not sure. Synthetics will leave a hard little bead at the end of the thread when you blow it out, cotton leaves ash. You can also get flour sack towels and cut them to size and hem the cut edge. They make good diapers too, from what I’ve read. Real cloth diapers can be used for a lot of different things too, assuming you can find good quality ones. They’re a bit heavier than flour sacking.
The local thrift store sells baby receiving blankets for about 40 cents a piece. I have a stack of them for cleaning with, instead of paper towels. A few of them were nice enough to add to my linen closet for various needs. The store can not sell them for use by babies because of some legal issues so the packaging has labeling that they’re for pets. I don’t know if it’s because of the fire retardant chemicals put into children’s sleep wear that might have worn out with repeated washings or something. They’re usually 100% cotton, so they work well for cleaning.
I use receiving blankets for cleaning as well. I had a bunch of them from when my son was a baby and I cut them into squares to use for wiping tables, doing dishes, etc. They are perfect because they are absorbent and easy to wash.
Miss Kitty, so true about 100% cotton. By mistake I bought a poly cotton set of sheets, bad mistake. So hot can hardly sleep in them. Didn’t read the label right. I still have the toweling nappies I bought for my youngest 30 years ago. The get used for everything. I even have the new style of fitted nappies with inserts and press studs my grandies used. Got another grandy on the way so washing them up just in case they’re needed.
Flour in sacks isn’t available much over here but I’ll keep that in mind. Used to get it but they changed to plastic lined paper.
Ginny:
They switched to plastic over here too, but you can buy “flour sack” towels at about $1.50-$2.00 US each. Sometimes you can get bundles for about $1 US per piece in packs of $10 plus. Check E-Bay and other sites. I got two large bundles last year and they’re absolutely wonderful for dish towels and quick drying hand towels. They wash well and are very absorbent.
Miz Kitty, God bless. Do you have any of those calendars on a towel? Women in the family love them. Nana left hers to her daughters, and Mom left hers to her daughters. Because my sisters already had a few dozen (they do last a long time) I was given a life-time supply. this in addition to what the ex got when her mother passed away. I’m just guessing, but I think some of the mother-in-law’s go back to the German-Franco War of 1898. But, they do come in handy and last a long, long time LOL. niio
Miss Kitty:
I found a good deal on plain old calico which washed up nice with a bit of shrinkage. Have about 20m put away now. Will need a bit more wash n wear to be soft as the bags but is 100% cotton so a fairly good deal.
Need to invest in another bulk flour container and buy my flour in bulk again, although with just the two of us I don’t cook cakes or bread much anymore. Currently I buy smaller 2kg packs and store them in the freezer away from vermin. There is a bit of a mouse/rat problem here atm.
Red:
Sadly, no. It’s funny you should mention that; every year I was working, tourists would come looking for those. Very few stores still carry them in my area, if any, but you might be able to find them (or similar) online. I know I sound like a broken record -“try online, try online”- but truly it’s your best bet for some items.
?
Ginny -W. AU:
Yes, I read about that a while ago. Too bad they’ve gotten so out of hand.
I read that peppermint essential oil can help repel them – supposedly they hate the smell – and a few soaked cotton balls in storage rooms will keep them away. Haven’t tried it for rodents but it does seem to work on spiders.
Sandbox tree = Natural frag grenades