Deadly Hallows

Most people with children would shudder at the thought of having poisonous plants in their yard.  We have not only one, but two, deadly plants we have been living peaceably with for almost two years.   To bad they aren't poisonous to ants.

This is our caster bean plant.  It started out as a tiny sprout when we first  moved here but is now over 15 feet tall.

The leaves are LARGE, have nine points, and make pretty nice shade.Perhaps this is why the gardener let it grow.

                                          
                                           
This is the size of the leaves compared to my hand.

                          
This is the main stem.  I can't get my hand around it and it isn't even the largest part.

                             
The caster beans form inside these pods (ovaries).  There are three beans to a pod.

                              
Once the beans are fertilized and ripen they look like this. 

                             
If the beans are ready and you squeeze the pods, they sort of spring open and release the bean.  Those that aren't ready are difficult to get to.  Kind of like a pistachio that hasn't started to open yet.

                              
                              
The beans  are tiny but have interesting colors and patterns.  From these beans they derive caster oil, which is used as a medicine, and ricin, which is a deadly poison.  They say one is enough to kill a child and four can kill an adult.  If you swallow them without damaging the seed coat they will pass           harmlessly through you, or so they say.
I'm not about to test it, I'll just take their word on that.

 Our second deadly pant is Oleander.   It grows everywhere here in Morocco, probably because it's such a hardy plant.   All parts of the plant contain a toxin that effects the heart.  Just two or three leaves can be lethal to small children if ingested.  Fortunately it tastes bad to humans.  Dogs on the other hand will ingest it and it's fatal to them too.  Another good reason we can tell the kids why they can't have a dog.

Our Oleander plant has pink flowers. 







~Brent