Abrus precatorius
Abrus precatorius
Safety & Hazards
All parts of the plant, but especially the seeds, contain the extremely toxic substance abrin[ 238 Title Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Publication Author Bown. D. Publisher Dorling Kindersley, London. Year 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31 Description A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant. , 254 Title The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Publication Author Chevallier. A. Publisher Dorling Kindersley. London Year 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148 Description An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world. ]. The seeds are extremely toxic, eating even one is sufficient to cause stomach cramps, vomiting, birth deformities, sterility, coma or death[ 238 Title Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Publication Author Bown. D. Publisher Dorling Kindersley, London. Year 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31 Description A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant. ]. The seeds can even cause death if they are brought into contact with an open wound[ 46 Title Dictionary of Economic Plants. Publication Author Uphof. J. C. Th. Publisher Weinheim Year 1959 ISBN - Description An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader. , 254 Title The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Publication Author Chevallier. A. Publisher Dorling Kindersley. London Year 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148 Description An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world. ]. The toxins can be destroyed by heating the seeds[ 459 Title The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam Publication Contributions from the United States National Herbarium Vol 9 Author Safford W.E. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ Publisher Smithsonian Institute; Washington. Year 1905 ISBN Description A very comprehensive, if rather dated, guide to the plants of Guam. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. Other parts of the plant, especially the root, are sometimes used as a liquorice substitute even though they contain minute amounts of the toxins[ 238 Title Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Publication Author Bown. D. Publisher Dorling Kindersley, London. Year 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31 Description A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant. , 254 Title The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Publication Author Chevallier. A. Publisher Dorling Kindersley. London Year 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148 Description An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world. ].
Botanical Description
Abrus precatorius is a deciduous climbing plant producing numerous stems from the base that can be up to 6 metres, occasionally 9 metres long. These stems scramble over the ground, twining into other nearby plants for support[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. , 310 Title Plant Resources of Southeast Asia Publication Author Website http://proseanet.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia. , 464 Title A Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon Publication Author Trimen H.; continued by Hooker J.D. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Dulau and Co; London. Year 1898 ISBN Description Very dated, but still a useful work. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The brightly coloured seeds are popularly used as beads to make necklaces and rosaries. Although poisonous, they also have a wide range of medicinal applications. The plant is commonly harvested from the wild and is also cultivated, both for medicinal use and as an ornamental.