OLEANDER and many plants containing heterosides

Heterosides ("other sugars") are molecules made up of two parts: a "sugar" part, called the "glycone" (from the Greek glukos = sweet), and another part, the "aglycone" ("a" privative, not sweet), which may be an alcohol, a phenol, a lipid, etc.

There are several families of heterosides: cardiotonic, cyanogenic and anthracenic.

Cardiotonic heterosides strengthen the contraction of the heart muscle but, beware, they slow its rhythm (type of plant: foxglove, active substance: digitalin). With oleander, just three leaves (about 7 g) are enough to kill a dog.

Cyanogenic heterosides ("which generate cyanide", through hydrolysis) are represented by cherry laurel and the bitter almond found in the stones of certain fruit trees.

Anthracenic heterosides, found in aloe, alder buckthorn, cascara, senna and rhubarb, are essentially laxatives and purgatives, some of which are considered "drastic"...

THE CASTOR OIL PLANT
It contains the famous toxins (pathogenic substances), the proteins "ricin" and "ricinine" from the spy novels featuring the "Bulgarian umbrellas" whose tips are soaked in these substances. Death by cardiac arrest often occurs after six months. Described as 6000 times more toxic than cyanide and 12000 times more than rattlesnake venom.

HEMLOCK
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum L.) contains several alkaloids, including coniine and piperidine, which (at a dose of 0.2 g) cause death through paralysis of the respiratory muscles. The great Greek philosopher Socrates was condemned to drink a bowl of hemlock.

LILY OF THE VALLEY
You really can be poisoned by drinking the water from a vase in which sprigs of lily of the valley have been standing! Some cases of feeling unwell are sometimes due to strong exposure to the scent (don't breathe in lily of the valley too deeply!). Cardiotonic heterosides are to blame.

WISTERIA
Glycosides strike again here: wisteria contains a glycoprotein called lectin, which is a strong irritant, both to the eyes and to the digestive tract.

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE or Devil's Herb
It is one of the three great witches' plants: Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna). All three contain three powerful poisons: hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine (the distinction between drugs and deadly poisons is a question of dose. "The dose makes the poison", said Theophrast Bombast von Hohenheim (!), better known as Paracelsus (Swiss physician, 1493-1541)).
A few drops in the eyes dilated the pupils of the beautiful Venetian ladies (bella donna, pretty woman), making their eyes a deep black. Around thirty berries are enough to cause death. In the Middle Ages, witches would rub their armpits and genitals with a "stick" coated in a skilful blend of deadly nightshade, mandrake, henbane and sometimes thorn apple (Datura stramonium). Hence the appearance in the 19th century, in a spirit of mockery, of the famous witches' "broomstick".

THE NARCISSUS
A powerful emetic (to induce vomiting) and a violent purgative, it causes dramatic symptoms. The bulbs are sometimes mistaken for onions...

HYDRANGEA or HORTENSIA
A generous dose of hydrogen cyanide awaits anyone who ventures to taste the flowers or buds. The whole plant is toxic. Smoked in the form of a cigarette, hydrangea sometimes leads to death.

MISTLETOE
The viscotoxins in mistletoe, which are proteins, cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea, leading to dehydration that can be dangerous.

RHODODENDRON (Greek dendron = tree, rhodo-dendron or tree of Rhodes) contains a toxic substance, acetylandromedol, which causes diarrhoea, vomiting and low blood pressure.

Michel BRASSINNE