Stems and leaves are just as potent. Symptoms include dry mouth, difficulty in speech and swallowing, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, confusion, delirium and tendency to violence. Death has followed in some cases. This perennial herb grows to about 1 m high. A native of southern Africa, it is commonly cultivated in gardens in Australia.
All parts are poisonous.
Fatalities have been recorded in children who ate the white spathe or yellow flower spike. Symptoms include swelling of tongue and throat, acute gastritis and severe diarrhoea. This native Australian tree grows to 40 m. Its bright orange or red flowers are followed by large brown pods with 2 to 6 round seed about the size of a golf ball. If eaten raw or even roasted, these seeds can produce severe painful diarrhoea, vomiting and dizziness. This introduced plant commonly grows as a weedy shrub 3 m tall in neglected, disturbed areas such as old rubbish tips and filled creek banks.