Posted on 06/27/2018 2:49:37 PM PDT by BBell
It’s more of a succulent than a cactus... no spines on it. Just has nasty latex when you snap off a ‘pencil’.
Euphorbia genus like poinsettia. Euphorbia tirucalli.
And naturally, being named ‘Mexican Pencil Tree’, it comes from Africa.
“People were messing around with Jimsonweed as far back as the 70s that I know of.”
1607. In Jamestown. Jimson is a corruption of the name Jamestown.
Colonists thought it might be edible, only to discover it definitely wasn’t.
“What’s 14 feet tall, green, hairy, and covered in toxic sap?”
That is interesting though I am sure they were diligently looking for things they could eat in a new place so it makes perfect sense.
I meant messing around with it as a recreational drug. That likely goes way back too, but not my personal knowledge of it. I do remember in the 70s there were stories in the news about people trying it and warnings about how dangerous it was. My parents had warned me about it from the time I can remember but I guess some did not get the memo or chose to ignore it.
Sounds like 99% of the "New Drug" Ads on TV.
This {insert new drug name here} will possibly fix the problem you have but...
*****************************************************
The next time I see My GP I'm going to ask about getting the Drugs that will:
1) Give Me a new Puppy to roll in the grass with.
2) Suddenly be sitting on a beach on a beautiful day.
3) Take Dancing Lessons with the Lady in a red dress and then eat at a Sidewalk Cafe with her and another woman.
You get the idea;)
Jimsonweed, a.k.a. Zombie Cucumber, has been getting into annual gardeners' beds via cultivated varieties (Datura) with doubled flowers and delighful smells. The fruit looks like its relative the Eggplant. In fact, Oleander and Deadly Nightshade from this top ten list are also related, along with useful plants like the potato, the tomato, the pepper, and of course petunias, nicotiana, and tobacco. A good many of the other relatives (which include Love Apples and jerusalem cherry) are at least a little poisonous. I'm surprised (or maybe just missed it) that wild hemlock (not the tree, and not the kind that killed Socrates) is not on this list, pound for pound it's probably the most poisonous plant growing in American yards (per Louise Riotte).
Oh, and poinsettias, that's another relative.
And of course, Aconite made it into the script for the BBC’s “I, Claudius”, Episode 6 - Some Justice:
http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/cus/scripts/iclaudius-transcript.html#Episode6
About fifteen yeas ago here in southern NJ some high school kids got into eating that stuff. For about a month every ER around where I live was having kids coming in strung out, foaming at the mouth , wild and bat sh!t crazy.
>>If you burn a liberus hypocriticus fascia will the smoke kill you?<<
No, but the bellowed air will knock you over!
or maybe give me lose weight and grow hair
:)
At that time all sorts of plants were being touted for having hallucinogenic effects. Morning Glory seeds. Banana peels. Poppy seeds. People looking for things they could try that couldn’t get them arrested, which pot would.
LOL!!!
I could use the weight loss for sure, hairline slowly receding but I can do a mild comb over so I’ll ride that out for a while.
Thanks BBell. From June.
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