“Both of us want to one day visit the Alnwick Poison Garden in the UK, where on the gates of the garden hangs the sign 'These Plants May Kill'. So we have chosen five of our favourite killing plants.”
1. Mandrake
Our favourite because it’s rumoured to scream when pulled from the ground and is also featured in one of our favourite movies, 'Pans Labyrinth'. A relative of belladonna (nightshade), mandrake is a hallucinogenic, narcotic and purgative and can send the user into a coma before death.2. Hemlock
On ingestion, hemlock keeps the mind awake as it paralyses the muscles and then shuts down the respiratory system with death from asphyxiation. It was once given as an infusion for people condemned to death and was the method of death for Socrates in 399BC.3. Strychnine
Made from the seeds of the plant, with similar properties to hemlock, strychnine causes death by respiratory failure. It was used by the famous Dr Thomas Neil Cream, who would give his patients a tonic to murder them between 1878-1892, in both the US and England, before he was executed.4. Belladonna
With the meaning: pretty woman or beautiful lady, Belladonna was once used by women to dilate their pupils to supposedly make them more attractive. The legendary female poison assassin Locusta, was rumoured to have used this poison to kill the Roman Emperor Claudius, AD 54.5. Castor Oil Plant
Finally the most poisonous plant in the world; a single seed can kill you with a slow death. This poison was used to kill a Bulgarian journalist in the '70s who spoke out against the government; he was stabbed with the point of an umbrella that had a pellet containing the toxin.Love Like Hate play a free show at the Brisbane Powerhouse 20 June before embarking on a European summer tour.
