Friday, June 26, 2009

The Poison Garden of Alnwick

On 11 September 1978, at the age of 49, Georgi Ivanov Markov died. The cause was ricin poisoning. It came from a pellet which had been surreptitiously jabbed into his calf three days earlier via a special umbrella tip designed specifically for that murderous purpose. Markov developed a high fever, went into the hospital and never recovered. Ricin is a protein toxin that is extracted from the Castor bean. It springs, as many poisons do, from an innocuous looking plant.

Here is a look at a garden where the plants cultivated are all poisonous or hallucinogenic. With its skull and crossbones logo and warnings, the garden is an interesting concept. In essence it is a place where if you get it wrong, its denizens can kill you. So look all you want, but don't touch!

Related article here.

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