In Praise Of The Toxic Plant
 (Read 100+ times)
By Glory Lennon
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It is said three brothers while traveling about the countryside came upon an unfamiliar plant. As they were extremely curious and thought it looked good enough to eat they set out to do just that. The first brother, a noble botanist, tried the leaf of this plant. He became violently ill and died. The second brother, a learned apothecary, tried the roots of this plant. He also became ill and died.
The third brother, a lowly farmer and by his brothers’ dearly held belief not too bright, decided the entire plant was toxic to all and evil too. He refused to eat the bright red fruits that glowed enticingly up at him. They promised to taste good but seeing what befell his two far more intelligent brothers he ran from the innocent looking plant and spread the word to anyone who would listen never to eat any part of that plant.
For many years that plant was left alone never touched by anyone of sense and even some without any sense at all. Then came a person who possibly was too stubborn to listen or maybe she was courageous enough to forego the warning or it could just be she had never heard of the three brothers and their dire tale of the deadly plant. Well, she popped the lovely fruit into her mouth and thought it just about the yummiest thing she had ever eaten. When nothing untoward happened she picked the rest gathering them up in her apron and headed straight for the kitchen to make what was probably the first pasta sauce made with plum Tomatoes.
Is there a moral to this tale? Most likely but as I don’t know what it is you’ll have to think of it on your own. It just got me to thinking that we gardeners take an awful lot for granted. We here say that Rhubarb leaves are toxic and yet we can safely eat the stalks. We eat the fruit of the watermelon but has anyone bothered to try a leaf to see what happens? We eat the apple and yet its seeds are loaded with arsenic. Bamboo shoots are practically lethal if eaten raw but soak out the cyanided which lays in wait within and then they are not only safe to eat but darn tasty.
What I want to know is how many people had to die to know all this? How many experiments had to take place before willow was found to relieve painful toothaches, headaches and body aches? How was Foxglove and Mullein thought to cure heart disease? Who decided the root of Valerian though it smelled nastily like dirty socks could relieve stress and promote a peaceful night’s sleep?
These are just a handful of the many miracles so far discovered in plants some of which were once thought of as toxic or at least parts of them were. There seems to be a whole lot we common folks ought to be thankful for and I fear we are not. So, I’d like to be the first to say a heartfelt thank you to the noble botanist, the learned apothecary, the tireless science geek in his or her dingy and clutter lab and the gardener fearless enough to munch on that Zucchini stem, Cantaloupe leaf or the feathery flower head of the Miscanthus ornamental grass.
That is not to say I’d like any of you to do just that and run the risk of poisoning yourself as the tenacious Chinese herbalist Shen Nung did. Really, I’m not that curious but if you do, let me know before you faint dead away.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For more fun gardening facts and amusing stories come visit
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