Many parts of plants or fruits will harm humans and there are many berries that will kill you. There are plants that you probably recognize, without knowing that they will actually kill you. Some plants will sting you and cause you to have a reaction such as a nettle or a thistle. All plants have a defense system to prevent them from getting eaten by us or animals, some are obvious they have thorns or spikes like a rose or cactus but some are not so obvious...

    Fruits We All Know
    An apples seeds believe it or not can kill you, not as many as a single fruit but if you ate an apple a day over a week and ingested the seeds you will be lucky to make it through the weekend. They contain a substance called cyanogen glycoside the red apples contain more of this substance and it is pretty easy to consume a fatal dose. The leaves and seeds of other fruits contain glycosides too, such as plums, peaches, apricots, almonds and cherries.

    Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid salts, the oxalic acid salts will cause kidney stones and other kidney disorders and will wreck your kidneys ability to extract vitamins and minerals from your food that your blood will need to keep your body healthy. If a large amount of these acid salts are consumed they can lead to convulsions or even a coma. The Tomato vines and leaves contain alkaloid poisons, the seeds hold a trace of these poisons but they are not as damaging as the vines or leaves and the seeds can be digested and pass through your body with out releasing the poison into your system. These poisons will cause your digestive system to slow down the process of ingesting minerals or vitamins, causing other parts of the body to come to a stand still. The alkaloid poisons also effect the nervous system causing them to over react to a stimulus, and cause twitching and uncontrollable shakes.

    Poisonous Berries
    There are many poisonous berries in this world, some are common knowledge some have yet to still be discovered. Humans know that if we don't know the berry we simply don’t eat them but animals are not as intelligent and most of them die as a result.

    Actaea Pachypoda

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    The Actaea Pachypoda is also known as Doll's Eyes or the White Bane berry,  it is a flowering plant an is highly poisonous. These berries could be found worldwide and could even be in the shady part of your garden. They are very common in wooded areas that provide shade. They die off completely at the end of the growing season right after they have flowered, these plants are known as a herbaceous plant. New growth of these plants in the new season form from surviving tissues of parts of the plant that lay on the ground. The fruits of these plants grow in clusters of about 10 cm and they berry themselves are about 1cm in diameter. This entire plant is considered to be highly poisonous to humans and animals. The berries contain a substance called cardiogenic toxins, these toxins will sedate a human and cause cardiac arrest, which causes your muscles to cease up including your heart and you will ultimately die.

    Actaea Rubra

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    These berries are a relative to the berries above only these ones are red in colour they are also known as the Red Bane Berry or the China Berry. They are found in marshy grounds worldwide on riverbanks and in swampy areas. They have the same appearance as the white berry, but they are smaller and more sweet and they grow in larger clusters. The plant grows to be 31 inches tall, they have three leaves on the ends of their seperated stems, the underside of these leaves have hairs and the edges of the leaves are curled under with a jagged edge to them, unlike the white berry. As well as causing the effects of the white berry if ingested they have other damaging effects too, it can cause nausea, dizziness, gastrointestinal disfunction and can increase your pulse rate causing a fever. As little as 6 of these berries will kill an adult and it will only take two of them to kill a child.

    Solanum Plants

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    There are three types of this poisonous berry depending on its location, The Caribbean, The European and the American Solanum. They are more commonly known as the Nightshade Berry because of its appearance, it is a small black or dark purple colour and can be easily mistaken for a black current. The plant grows to 1.5 meters tall, depending on where they are in the world determines the size of the leaves. The leaves grow to be 10x7cm or a little smaller, they have a reddish purple colour on the underside of the leaf, this is very important to know because they are so similar to wild black currents. When these are fully mature they contain a substance called solanine which can be very dangerous to the human anatomy. The berry colour can differ depending on  the species and location of the Nightshade. They can vary from a purple colour to a dull green, or a light green to a yellow colour or the colour of the above species. The solanine in these berries can cause a range of disfunctions in the body including gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, diarrea, vomiting, hallucinations, fever, paralysation, stomach cramps, headaches, hypothermia, jaundice or burning of the throat. If you consume over 3-6 mg of this substance you will experiance all of these symtoms and you will die as a result.