"Poisonous plants." | Search | Wellcome Collection

Formats

Dates

Fromto

Locations

Online (318)
Closed stores (93)

Subjects

Types/Techniques

Contributors

Languages

Submit

Active filters:

Digital Images Pictures Reset filters

328 results

Sort by:
Sort order:

Pictures
Online
Four flowering and fruiting plants: black bryony, herb Paris, common asparagus and butchers broom. Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
W. Dickes & Co.Date: [1855]Reference: 24823i
Pictures
Online
Water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata L.): flowering stem with separate root and floral segments. Coloured engraving after F. von Scheidl, 1776.
Scheidl, Franz Anton von, 1731-1801.Date: [1776]Reference: 18096i
Digital Images
Online
Eupatorium fortunei
Rowan McOnegal
Digital Images
Online
Thunbergia alata Sims Acanthaceae. Black-eyed Susan. Tender, perennial herbaceous climbing plant. Distribution: East Africa. Named for Carl Peter (Pehr or Per) Thunberg (1743-1828), doctor, botanist, student of Linnaeus who collected plants in Japan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. He published Flora Japonica (1784)
Dr Henry Oakeley
Pictures
Online
Buttercup (Ranunculus sp.): flowering and stoloniferous stem with separate fruit and seed. Coloured engraving after F. von Scheidl, 1776.
Scheidl, Franz Anton von, 1731-1801.Date: [1776]Reference: 18003i
Digital Images
Online
Solanum atropurpureum Schrank Solanaceae. Purple Devil. Purple-spined Nightshade. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Brazil. This ferociously spined plant contains tropane alkaloids, atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine. All are anticholinergic and block the acetylcholine mediated actions of the parasympathetic nervous system. While the alkaloids are used in medicine and as an antidote to anticholinergic nerve gas poisons, the plant itself is not used in medicine. Its sharp spines can be irritant. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
Digital Images
Online
Knautia macedonica Griseb. Dipsacaceae. Distribution: Macedonia. This honours the brothers Knaut, both physicians and botanists: Christof Knaut (also Knauth, 1638–94) and his brother Christian Knaut (1654–1716). The plant was traditionally used as a compress in its native Balkans to relieve dermatitis and itching. This use is a local survival of what was once a widespread application of this plant and its relations, and is an example of the doctrine of signatures in which the therapeutic benefit of a plant is suggested by some aspect of its anatomy
Dr Henry Oakeley
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple) Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Rowan McOnegal
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Pictures
Online
A Christmas rose (Helleborus niger), a poppy (Papaver species) and borage (Borago officinalis): flowering stems. Etching by N. Robert, c. 1660, after himself.
Robert, Nicolas, 1614-1685.Date: [c. 1660]Reference: 24913i
Digital Images
Online
Datura stramonium (Thornapple). Also called Jimsonweed
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Trillium sessile L. Trilliaceae Distribution: North America. Various Trilliums were used by Native Americans to stop haematuria, haematemesis, menorrhagia, and to heal ulcers (Milspaugh, 1974). Roots were eaten to treat stiff muscles, and tea from the plant drunk and powdered plant put on joints for rheumatism by the Iroquois (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis, 2003). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
Digital Images
Online
Melilotus officinalis (Common melilot). Also known as Sweet clover
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Phytolacca dodecandra (Pokeroot or Endod)
Rowan McOnegal
Digital Images
Online
Dianella tasmanica Hook.f. Phormiaceae Tasman flax lily. Distribution: Australia. A pretty plant, but also a source of fine fibre. The leaves are used for making baskets and the berries as a dye source. No medicinal use found, but the fruit is an irritant
Dr Henry Oakeley
Pictures
Online
Stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) with an associated beetle and its anatomical segments. Coloured etching, c. 1831.
Date: 1 July 1831Reference: 24208i
Digital Images
Online
Melilotus officinalis (Common melilot). Also known as Sweet clover
Sue Snell
Digital Images
Online
Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. Ranunculaceae. Chinese aconite, Chinese wolfsbane, Carmichael's monkshood. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution C. to W. China to N. America. Named for Dr J.R. Carmichael (d. 1877), English physician, plant collector and Protestant missionary from 1862-1877 in Guangdong and Shandong, China initially in Canton. He aided Francis Forbes to collect plants for Kew. Aconitum plants are so poisonous that Theophrastus states that death was the punishment for possessing them. Aconitine is the poison and was used - from Aconitum ferox - in the 'curry murder' in London in 2009. It causes respiratory paralysis, bradycardia (slowing of the pulse), cardiac arrhythmias, tingling, sweating, gastric cramps, diarrhoea and death, both by ingestion and by absorption through the mucous membranes and the skin. Despite this it is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be dispensed by a herbal practitioner for external use following a one-to-one consultation, or by prescription from a registered doctor or dentist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
Digital Images
Online
Melilotus officinalis (Common melilot)
Rowan McOnegal
Digital Images
Online
Catharanthus roseus (L.)G.Don Apocynaceae. Madagascar Periwinkle Distribution: Madagascar. It is the source of vincristine and vinblastine, which impair cell multiplication by interfering with microtubule assembly, causing metaphase arrest and are effective medications for leukaemias, lymphomas and some solid tumours. The mortality from childhood leukaemia fell from 100% to 30% once it was introduced - not a drug that could ethically be tested by double-blind trials. These chemicals were initially discovered by investigators in 1958 who were looking for cures for diabetes so tested this plant which was being used in the West Indies to reduce blood sugar levels. There are 70 different alkaloids present in this plant, and some - catharanthine, leurosine sulphate, lochnerine, tetrahydroalstonine, vindoline and vindolinine - lower blood sugar levels. However, the toxicity of this plant is such that this is not a plant to try at home for diabetic management. The vincristine content of the plant is 0.0003%, so two kilograms of leaf are required to produce sufficient vincristine for a single course of treatment for a child (6gm). Fortunately it is a vigorous weed and easy to grow in the tropics. Artificial synthesis has now been achieved. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley