A plant that sows death bloomed with white flowers in the botanical garden of VU | Life

Therefore, from the slightest contact with flowers, juice or fruit, mouth burning, drooling, painful colic, diarrhea begin. And if it is ignored and doctors are not consulted, it is possible to lose consciousness and even die.

We advise you to plant Žalčialunki in a place inaccessible to children, and it is advisable to wear gloves when carrying out planting and maintenance work.

Žalčialunkis has the most synonyms among all Lithuanian plants. This means that he has been well known in Lithuania for a long time.

Lithuanian synonyms: red flower, mešlunki, mešlankis, mæšlungė, meštalungė, pepper tree, prasthalunki, prättalungis, žaltis lunkas, žalciaplungis, zaltininkas, zaltilanka, žaltspluna, ground feather, žalčiolungis.

In some places in Lithuania, it is also called a bear or a werewolf. These names are most likely due to the fact that in ancient times, the extract of fennel was used in hunting with bows.

Arrows were poisoned with it so that the wounded animal would die faster. Yew was also used for this purpose.

Yellowtail (Daphne L.) is the name of Timeline (Thymelaeaceae) low deciduous or evergreen shrubs of the family up to 1.5 m high. There are 95 known species of them in the world.

They are common in Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, subtropical and temperate zones of Asia. It grows in plains and mountain forests, in moderately moist, weakly acidic or carbonate, humus soils.

Many species of sedges, such as the Altaic sedge (Daphne altaica Pall.), heather sedge (Daphne cneorum L.), long-flowered marigold (Daphne genkwa Siebold et Zucc.), laurel sedge (Daphne laurel L.) are poisonous due to the compounds they contain: daphnin and mezerein.

Common sedge (Daphne mezereum f. alba), blooming with white flowers, is a low-branched shrub up to 1.2 m high.

Leaves about 8 cm long, light green or green. The flowers are white, appear before the leaves unfold in March-April, and emit a strong aroma.

Zalčialunkias are very decorative plants, ripening yellow drupes during flowering. The flowers of cultivated marigolds stand out well against the background of evergreen plants. Suitable for diversifying with spring bulbous plants: crocus (Crocus L.), in spring harvests (Eranthis hyemalis L.) etc.

In nature, we usually come across the green tea tree unexpectedly. A bush covered with pink flowers grows somewhere near a stream, often under other trees and hazel bushes.

Blooming at the end of winter or early spring, the periwinkle is hardly noticeable after flowering.

You can feel the aroma of intensively blooming marigolds from afar – the smell emitted by the flowers is very strong and intoxicating. Maybe that’s why bumblebees, the first butterflies to come to life, fly to him very willingly. True, the intoxicating aroma hides the true nature of the plant: it is deadly poisonous!

It contains two poisonous substances – daphnine and mezerein. The first belongs to the group of antivitamins K (inhibits clotting).

Antivitamin K is used in rat poison – it causes the mouse to bleed to death.

Mezerein is a mutagen (causing mutations in cells and genes) that particularly affects the nervous system. In ancient times, there was such a saying: after eating a mulberry berry, it is as if its bush sprouts in the stomach.

The leaves of Žalčialunkis are leathery, similar to bay leaves. The taxonomist Carl von Linnaeus gave the name Daphne to the genus of the gerbera. This plant was also called “February daphne” because in some regions the plant blooms in February. The second word in the name, mezereum, is derived from the Latin word mezereon, which means “bitter”, referring to the bitter taste of the plant.

It is known that žalčialunkis is among the top five most poisonous and deadly plants in Lithuania, which includes:

1. Common bluebell.

2. Spotted wort (the Greek philosopher Socrates is said to have been poisoned by the tea of ​​this plant), which usually grows in rubbish dumps and can be dangerously confused with bulrush (a spice plant).

3. Poisonous weed that grows in water, in streams. Its rhizomes are very similar to celery, but hollow.

4. European yew: It is popular in homesteads, but almost extinct in the wild. It contains a poisonous substance in its spines, a toxin that can stop the heart, but its berries are edible.

5. Lobelian hellebore: a rare plant listed in the Red Book, preserved in the only place in Lithuania – in the vicinity of Anykščiai. It is a very beautiful, decorative plant, in ancient times mice were poisoned with water.

The only species of common sedge in Lithuania is the common sedge (Daphne mezereum L.). It is a low, often about 1 m high, rarely taller shrub with brownish bark. It usually blooms as soon as the snow melts. Of course, they will still bloom for some time in the misty forests.

These shrubs bloom very early because at the end of summer they accumulate flower buds that wait for spring and unfold before trees and other shrubs have leafed out.

They mostly grow in deciduous and mixed forests, forest edges, slopes. They are found all over Lithuania, but not equally often. They hardly occur in pine forests growing on sandy soil.

The common marigold blooms with soft pink, lilac-like flowers and emits a pleasant, hyacinth-like aroma. The plant blooms for a short time – the flowers quickly lighten and fall, and the leaves also grow. At this time, the bush with rare, small lanceolate leaves is hardly noticeable.

The wood of Žalčialunki is brittle, so it breaks quickly, and the bark is flexible and difficult to break. Unaware of its dangers, children sometimes try to bite off the bark, thereby damaging their tooth enamel, which begins to crack. Its flowers are best admired from afar.

For the body, poison ivy causes nausea, vomiting, and a rise in temperature. Although the fruits of saffron are poisonous to humans, they are food for some birds.

Common sedge can grow for over 100 years, but is picky about soil and moisture. Single bushes grow in the forests, there are no coppices.

Although it is very attractive, this plant should not be planted in your homesteads or nurseries – it is too dangerous for people, animals and birds. Except for the geese, who are very fond of bark. Animals do not gnaw it, even hares do not touch it in winter.