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THE YELLOW JASMINE
A PRETTY POISON
By Ashleigh Jones
WHAT IS A YELLOW JASMINE AND WHAT DO THEY LOOK
LIKE?
Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) are
yellow trumpet shaped flowers that sometimes have
an orange center which grow from a vine and its
leaves are evergreen. These flowers are strongly
scented and attracts a large range of pollinators.
CASE STUDY
On June 28th 1871 General Ketchum was found
dead in his boarding house. Police suspected the
land lady Elizabeth G. Warton had poisoned him. The
case was brought to professor Wormly who once
wrote an article on the Yellow Jasmine. Upon
examining the flower he was able to isolate an
alkaloid gelsemia that existed on an acid termed by
him to be gelseminic acid. Sadly the case against
Mrs. Warton didn’t hold and she was found not
guilty.
TOXINS AND WHAT THEY EFFECT
Coumarin- moderately toxic to the liver and
kidneys(used in rat poison)
Tannin- causes bowl and kidney irritation, liver damage,
irritation of the stomach, and gastrointestinal pain
Gelsemine and Gelsedine- paralyzes the central nervous
system (other effects are similar to strychnine)
Difficulty in use of voluntary muscles
Muscle rigidity and weakness
Dizziness
Loss of speech
Dry mouth
Visual disturbances
Drooping of the eyelids and jaw
Pulse rate and core body
temperature drop dramatically
Skin irritation (in certen people)
SYMPTOMS OF POISONING
Trembling of extremities
Pupil dilation
Slowed cardiac activity
Profuse sweating
Respiratory depressions
Convulsions
Feeble respiration (overdose)
Paralysis (overdose)
Death
FUN FACTS
It has been reported that this flower is even toxic to honeybees when they drink
the nectar and causes ‘death broods’ when gathered by the bees.
Some children have mistaken the flower for honeysuckle and have been
poisoned by sucking the nectar from the flower and since it only takes 2-3 g to
kill an adult it wont take much to kill a small child in fact it takes only one flower
to kill a child
These plants have once been used for medical purposes but the use if them has
decreased once they realized how poisonous the plant was. The plant is restricted
in some Australian states and in Germany the use of the yellow jasmine for
therapeutic purposes is not permitted.
Death may occur within one to seven and a half hours from ingestion.
SITES
http://web.fccj.org/~dbyres/jasmine/jasmine2.htm
http://
www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_yellow_jessamine.
htm
http://
www.toddcaldecott.com/index.php/herbs/learning-he
rbs/348-yellow-jessamine
http://www.naturalpedia.com/Yellow_jasmine.html