Poison plants have a well-deserved place in history.

Shakespeare was well aware of plant poisons. Juliet drank a potion of belladonna to feign death, and an infusion of henbane poured in his ear was the death of Hamlet's dad.

Monarch caterpillars are known for their ability to ingest milkweed plants, storing the poisonous compounds in their bodies and rendering both the caterpillars and the butterflies they become toxic. Socrates was sentenced to drink an extract of poison hemlock. This plant, which occurs wild in wet areas, has proved fatal for children and wild food collectors who mistake it for its edible relatives celery, fennel and parsley.

Sir Walter Raleigh was nearly beheaded for feeding potato leaves to Queen Elizabeth I, not understanding that only the tubers should be eaten. If the potato tubers are green, they should be peeled to avoid the toxins that develop under the skin with exposure to light.

Datura earned its common name, jimson weed, in 1705 when British soldiers in Jamestown ate a salad of the leaves and went wild for 11 days. Shaman in South America employ this plant during puberty rites and every few years there is a spate of poisonings when teenagers attempt to "get high" by ingesting it but instead reap the fatal effects.

Extracts of belladonna and henbane can produce sensations of flying, part of how witches developed a reputation for flying on broomsticks.

Tomatoes were originally given the Latin name Lycopersicon esculentum, meaning "juicy wolf peach," because they belonged to the deadly nightshade family. Due to this guilt by association, they were grown as ornamentals and considered poisonous by those living in America until 1820, when Col. Robert Johnson staged a dramatic demonstration in which he ate a bushel of the fruits. Tomato foliage is toxic but the luscious fruits are considered especially healthful due to the presence of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.

Mountain laurel seeds have such a hard coat that there's a chance they could pass through the digestive system without releasing their toxins (which can lead to respiratory distress and death). Unfortunately, they also have been used by kids for years as "burn beans." Since the seeds also contain protein (which stores heat), kids can rub them hard against stones and "burn" their friends with the stored heat of friction. While rubbing them to get hot, they abrade the seed coat, which makes it possible for them to open when ingested.

— Molly Ogorzaly