Short chapters introduce 25 poisonous plants (actually, 24 plants and one fungus) following a similar format for each, with most including sections titled “Wicked Weed” or “Sinister Seed” (as appropriate), “Bodily Harm” (impact on a human body, including the gross particulars), and “Deadly Details” (such as “Mandrake was a component of witches’ flying ointment—a concoction that when smeared on the skin produced powerful hallucinations of flight.”) Many chapters include a gruesome account of people killed by the plants, some historical and others more recent. The conversational and sometimes sassy tone employs “Dear Reader” moments to emphasize the serious dangers posed by encounters with poisonous plants. The book’s highly visual format utilizes lush botanical illustrations, historical images, photographs, and page decoration. A glossary, source notes, bibliography, and selected additional resources round out this compact and engaging volume for strong-stomached horticulturists and medical aficionados.

"Should you encounter any of the plants in this book, do not treat them lightly. They can kill you. Or cause you unbearable agony. Or land you in jail. Consider yourself warned."

Explore the strange and remarkable stories of poisonous and even deadly plants.

Science, history, and true crime converge in an informative and exciting look at Mother's Nature's ghoulish garden. From a hallucinogenic fungus linked to the Salem Witch Trials to the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother, learn how certain plants evolved toxicity to avoid being consumed by predators and became the predator on their own.

In A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds author Rebecca Hirsch takes you on a wild journey to look at how toxic chemicals in the natural world have been used for medicine, warfare, and sinister acts of foul play. Tread lightly as we explore these plants' ominous deeds.