Not all flowers are created equal, with some flowers considered down-right "evil plants," according to a new report from ABC.
The San Francisco Golden Gate Park will host an event at the Conservatory of Flowers featuring plants inspired by the book "Wicked Plants."
The book's full title is "Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities" and it is written by Amy Stewart.
"If you're a plant, that's pretty important when you wake up in the morning - that you don't get eaten. Well how do plants do that? They can't run away and hide, they can't fight back, but they can inflict pain and suffering on anyone who tries to eat them," Stewart told the news outlet.
Lau Hodges of the Conservatory of Flowers says that the exhibit tried hard to obtain certain types of "evil" plants, with varying success.
One of the plants that the Conservatory did obtain was the hemlock, a plant that crops up in early Greek literature, according to Botanical.com.
Hemlock Plant
Visit our own collection of San Francisco flowers, which aren’t evil, but quite the opposite.
The Anglo-Saxons used hemlock as medicine and the name itself potentially derives from Old English words - 'hem' means the border or shore, and 'leac' means leek or plant.
However, the Greeks knew about the evil effects of the plant. Hemlock is also known as Conium maculatum, derived from the Greek 'Konas' - which means to whirl about, according to Botanical.com. This is due to the vertigo-inducing effects of the plant, which can also be lethal.
Socrates is said to have died from poisonous hemlock.
Today, the most evil plant in the world is arguably tobacco, which Stewart and the Conservatory included in their exhibit.
"Ninety million people have been killed by tobacco worldwide since we started counting," said Stewart.
Which plants did the city attorney of San Francisco not allow the Conservatory to display?
Marijuana and a coca plant, the latter to demonstrate where cocaine comes from.
According to Stewart, there was a garden in the United Kingdom that featured these plants, but U.K. laws may be a little more progressive than those stateside.
If one is interested in evil plants but would prefer a lovelier, less deadly, flower for one's home, there are plenty of traditional tulips, orchids and lilies that can be purchased online. Florists can deliver flowers to one's home if the San Francisco Golden Gate Park is not within reach.
And for those of you who are wondering what plant killed Abe Lincoln's mother - it was the evil white snakeroot.
White Snakeroot
