Heart-Stopping Flowers - Anti-Valentine Theme

To finish off our Anti-Valentine theme, Quizmaster Tanner delivers a bouquet of four facts about heart-stopping flowers. All four flowers are poisonous but only three facts are true! Think you can sniff out the truth or will you get your heart broken? Guess which fact is a lie along with hosts Andi and Sups! 

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Transcript

Andi 0:01

But I don't know anything about some kind of poisoning involved.

Sups 0:07

Yeah. Oh, wait,

Andi 0:09

Oh, wait, what? Hold up all of them. Yeah. you have to have some explanation or you're lying honestly, like we are weird monkeys. Like, we'll just try stuff and if it doesn't kill you, then I guess

Sups 0:23

Yeah, sure. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Andi 0:27

Hello, and welcome to this episode of the I Should Have Known podcast, the trivia podcast that can't be trusted. Each week our Quizmaster presents you with four big facts on a topic, but one of those facts is a lie, and we're finishing up our anti Valentine's Day theme for the month of February with one last episode from Quizmaster Tanner.

Tanner 0:46

Hello.

Andi 0:47

And Tanner is going to be presenting us four facts about heart-stopping flowers because they will literally stop your heart. They are all poisonous. and you can join me, Andy, and our other host soups in figuring out which one of his facts is a lie.

Tanner 1:04

Yeah.

Andi 1:05

want a heart stopping bouquet for Valentine's Day? Yeah.

Tanner 1:08

I mean, you could give all of these to your sweetheart, but uh, don't eat

Andi 1:11

em. That's good to know, cuz that's, you know, when I get a bouquet of

Sups 1:15

that's like the first thing

Andi 1:16

yep. My first thought is like, mm, dinner.

Sups 1:20

yeah.

Tanner 1:20

So let's start off with some low hanging fruit.

Andi 1:23

Ooh. Is it poisoned?

Tanner 1:24

It's poison and fruit. Yes. It's a classic. What poisonous plant was responsible for killing Socrates. yeah.

Andi 1:33

I was like, oh, I know

Sups 1:34

this. Yeah, I know it More from Shakespeare than

Andi 1:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In Shakespeare.

Tanner 1:38

the story goes that in 3 99 bce Socrates was made to commit suicide by drinking poison made from common hemlock, which is a flowering plant that causes paralysis and then death if you drink enough.

Andi 1:50

I guess I never realized they had flowers. I don't associate it with flowers. it does have flowers, but it's not the flowers themselves that they make the poison from.

Tanner 1:59

I think they make the poison out of the, roots. It's usually the roots or bulbs that are mower poisonous.

Andi 2:05

Yeah. A lot of plants are like that. Yeah,

Tanner 2:07

some plants have poison in their seeds to prevent them from being eaten when they're not. And so it, it's a lot to do with botany and biology of plants. Like why a plant would be poisonous.

Andi 2:18

it is interesting why plants even exist. Yeah. great. So you're gonna tell us about four flowers in particular.

Tanner 2:25

Yeah.

Andi 2:25

And one of these facts about these flowers is a lie. But they are all poisonous.

Tanner 2:30

Yes. Great Fact number one. In the 17 hundreds and 18 hundreds, women used eyedrops of deadly nightshade to make their pupils appear larger.

Andi 2:42

I do know nightshade.

Tanner 2:44

Yeah.

Andi 2:44

Generally the flower is nightshade, but I know it's like also a family of plants.

Tanner 2:50

Yeah. specifically Aropa Belladonna is what we're talking about. This is known as deadly nightshade, but more widely the Aropa family. includes other types of nightshade as well.

Andi 3:00

Okay.

Tanner 3:01

But this is a very pretty purple plant. Mm-hmm. Purple Flower. Carlos Linas named it Atropa from the Greek Aros, the fate who cuts the thread of life cuz he knew it was poisonous. Okay. And Belladonna pretty woman. In Italian, cuz even back in Carlos S's time, women were using it for makeup.

Andi 3:21

Okay.

Sups 3:22

But why would women want to make their pupils

Andi 3:25

bigger? you know how people look sexier in candlelight. Right? That's a big reason why is cuz your pupils are dilated wider and they

Sups 3:32

it makes sense. The Instagram filter, which just

Andi 3:34

pops Yeah. They make your mixed new people's wig. Yeah. They're like, I don't know. It makes you look like an anime character or something.

Tanner 3:41

yeah, in the Renaissance and then the Victorian England eras, women had a lot of questionable makeup techniques. So one of the things was putting deadly night shade in your eyes.

Sups 3:53

huh?

Andi 3:53

Yeah. I mean that's not that weird. If you think about like, capsaicin is used a lot in like, lip plumping it's just literally irritating your skin and it makes them swell a little bit and look a little plumper. So like, you know, of poisons in the dose. So like it's not so strange that you would take a teeny tiny bit of a poison Botox.

Tanner 4:15

same thing. Yeah.

Andi 4:16

know, you take a teeny tiny bit of a poison. Right. And use.

Tanner 4:19

Yeah. The plant itself is extremely toxic the flowers, the berries, the roots, it's all very toxic if ingested specifically because they have aro. So atropine is still used in medicine today. It dilates the pupils, it slows your heart rate, it stops diarrhea, but if you have too much, it can cause vomiting and delirium and hallucinations and death.

Andi 4:41

Well, yeah. That's one of the basic tenets of medicine is it's in

Tanner 4:45

dose. Yeah. Right.

Sups 4:46

It's interesting is how did they discover this?

Andi 4:49

I mean, honestly, like we are weird monkeys. Like, we'll just try stuff and if it doesn't kill you, then I guess

Sups 4:56

Yeah, sure. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Yeah.

Andi 4:59

Okay, so this doesn't sound so unbelievable. Yeah. We know that a lot of and makeup practices have always been kind of, On the edge of safe So putting poison in your eyes. Not that weird. People put poison in their faces all the time. Yeah. But then also, that's the thing, oh, you think old-timey people were so dumb, they put like, drops of poison in their eyes. Like maybe that's the lies. Like, no. Why would they do that? They're not stupid.

Sups 5:26

Or it could be that it's not nitrate. It's something else

Andi 5:29

these drops were made of something else? but I mean, it is called belladonna. but maybe that's what he's going for. Maybe it's called belladonna because it's literally pretty, And then he's like, oh no, they've used it to make themselves pretty. I dunno.

Sups 5:43

I don't know, But anyway, this sounds very, you know. Yeah. Need to hear the others. Yeah.

Tanner 5:48

Yeah. All right. Back number two. All species of poppies contain some amount of narcotics.

Sups 5:56

Yeah. Oh, wait,

Andi 5:58

Oh, wait, what? Hold up all of them.

Tanner 6:01

So you know the opium poppy? Yes. Opium comes from Poppies. Yes. Specifically that Pave Somniferum is the Opium Popp. But there are over a hundred species of pave. But every single one of them has narcotics in it. So morphine codeine or thebaine, which are collectively known as opium But it's the opium poppy that has it in the highest concentration.

Andi 6:24

Okay.

Sups 6:25

So you're trying to say that the poppy seeds, I used to cook also has narcotics in it.

Tanner 6:29

All parts of the poppy plant have narcotics is particularly in the sap. the milk of the poppy. That is the yellowish white, milky sap. Food grade poppy seeds have been washed. So they don't have the sap, they are cleaned, so they have almost no narcotics.

Andi 6:49

Yeah. you have to have some explanation or you're lying

Sups 6:52

when we used poppy seeds, it's very common in the Bengal part of India. So the eastern part of India you always like smashing like, You're making a paste out of it. And the very famous dish is basically with potatoes and poppy seeds. Oh,

Tanner 7:05

nice.

Andi 7:05

yeah. Oh, sounds good.

Sups 7:06

Very tasty.

Andi 7:07

Yeah, so I think we're all pretty familiar with opium and comes from this little flower.

Tanner 7:13

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So it is medicin. but it's also recreational

Sups 7:17

Mm-hmm. and poison.

Andi 7:18

And poison So, you know, every time we have an all that's always a big red flag for the game. And then also, like we know people eat poppy seeds So they. Idea that like, oh, this whole time there's been an entire industry of like washing the seeds and like cleaning them so you don't get high from your poppy seed cake or muffin it's kind of one of those things where it's like, if it's true, it makes you feel really stupid cuz you're like, wow, this is an entire industry of this. Or it's like, no, Tanner's making it up. Like you don't have to wash'em, you.

Sups 7:50

Yeah. I'm not too sure on the washing

Andi 7:53

right. I think I like to

Tanner 7:54

to

Sups 7:54

about Yeah, me

Andi 7:56

to, so like, I've never heard of this. That's kind of surprising. So it must be false. Yeah. I'm gonna put a pin in that

Sups 8:03

yeah. This one, now, I'm more confident about fact number one, that it's true

Andi 8:07

it's, yeah, I mean it's certainly like, feels more true than this one. But we still have to hear two more before we can really know. All right.

Tanner 8:15

Fact number three in the 1600. Eating poisonous tulip bulbs created an outbreak of risk taking in the Netherlands, known as Tulip Man.

Andi 8:27

what?

Tanner 8:27

basically the tulip bubble. Yeah. The Dutch,

Andi 8:31

they made too many of them.

Tanner 8:32

Tulips were brought to Europe. Yeah. In the 16th century from the Ottoman Empire.

Sups 8:37

But yes, we know they, they went crazy, right?

Andi 8:41

they grew too many, and it crashed the market because the supply was far too high. They were worth nothing,

Tanner 8:47

Right.

Andi 8:47

But I don't know anything about some kind of poisoning involved. So,

Tanner 8:53

If you don't know, tulip bulbs kind of look like onions. Mm-hmm. if you eat the petals, which I would advise you not to, but you can, they taste like peas or cucumbers.

Andi 9:03

Yeah. They just had taste like that leafy flavor. Yeah,

Tanner 9:06

But the entire tu. Plant is in the allium family along with garlic. Mm-hmm. So garlic, onions, tulips. These are all kind of related and you can eat tulips, but there's a poisonous part of the bulb. that you should not eat.

Andi 9:21

Okay.

Tanner 9:21

so the Dutch were eating these tulip bulbs, and it was causing high risk activity, loss of inhibitions, skin and mouth irritation, or tulip bulb dermatitis and abdominal upset and dizziness.

Andi 9:34

So people were just like getting high off tulips.

Tanner 9:37

Yeah.

Andi 9:38

Okay.

Sups 9:38

I think it says something about the Dutch, I mean their, poison of choice has changed. But

Andi 9:44

that's

Sups 9:45

always seemed to

Andi 9:45

be their thing.

Sups 9:46

Yeah, yeah. Did you look up any recipe, any

Tanner 9:49

Yeah, they Do have

Andi 9:50

Do people make it still today? Yeah. Yeah. Cuz I imagine like, let's get high off of

Tanner 9:55

Yeah. But they usually say to remove the poisonous

Sups 9:58

What's the fun in that

Andi 10:00

Yeah. Right. I thought the whole

Tanner 10:01

whole point Then

Sups 10:02

Yeah, I know, right? Okay.

Andi 10:04

Wow.

Sups 10:05

well the tulip mania is real. I don't think I've heard about this whole thing of everyone going high off of tulips. Yeah. The

Andi 10:13

element is not one that I had heard before. I'm guessing this is less of a scientific fact and more of like, Historical speculation kind of thing where like you can't prove that people went nuts because of the tulip bulbs, hard to say this as a fact, but I could believe that some reputable people might make the argument. so it's not so, Crazy, but it also seems very much. Container made that up. You know, no one needs

Tanner 10:41

tulips.

Sups 10:42

Yeah.

Tanner 10:43

All right. Fact number. Honey made from Azalia nectar causes mad honey disease.

Andi 10:51

These are such a clever names. Thank you so much.

Sups 10:55

Okay,

Andi 10:56

Wow.

Tanner 10:57

they're actually flowering shrubs, they're in the rhododendron genus. which we've talked about in a different episode.

Andi 11:04

Yeah. So we definitely know that they're poisonous, at least to rabbits,

Tanner 11:08

All parts of the Azalea plant are poisonous to pets and humans.

Sups 11:13

Okay.

Andi 11:14

In the right amount.

Tanner 11:15

Yes. So they have granot toxins in the leaves and the nectar, and when bees collect this nectar and turn it into honey, It can kind of concentrate this into a lethal honey, and it's sometimes known as Mad honey. And then this became known as Mad honey disease.

Andi 11:33

Do the bees get high off of it? No. No. It doesn't affect them,

Sups 11:36

honey. No.

Andi 11:37

Okay.

Tanner 11:38

So it can cause vomiting, sweating, dizziness, impaired consciousness, convulsions, heart attacks. And it can occur like a half hour to three hours after eating the honey and it lasts for about one or two days.

Andi 11:49

Wow. I have never heard of Mad Honey. I also have never heard of azalia honey. So like that makes sense. You know, you there are lots of different kinds of plants associated with honey. Okay.

Sups 12:00

Interesting. never heard of this.

Andi 12:02

yeah, very interesting. It is very interesting. And it's also very odd

Sups 12:07

to me, what, stands out about this fact that nothing really happens to the bee But humans can adjust to it. But the bees are okay with it.

Andi 12:15

Yeah. I mean, it's not that unusual that a poisonous plant is poisonous to like mammals, but not other kinds of animals. So like it wouldn't be that unusual mm-hmm. that it's not poisonous to insects and bees, but it's poisonous to mammal.

Sups 12:30

tomato. I see.

Andi 12:31

Yeah. So, These would all make some very lovely bouquets, but they would literally stop your heart. Yeah. And one of these facts was going to break our hearts because it's not true. And soups and I are going to guess on which one we think that is. But before we do, Tanner, can you recap your four facts about poisonous

Tanner 12:50

Yeah, Fact number one. In the 17 hundreds and 18 hundreds, women used eyedrops of deadly nightshade to make their pupils appear larger. Fact number two, all species of poppies contains some amount of narcotics. Fact number three. In the 16 hundreds eating poisonous tulip bulbs created an outbreak of risk taking in the Netherlands, known as Tulip Mania. In fact, number four, honey made from Azalia nectar causes mad honey disease. One of those is a lie.

Andi 13:37

lot.

Sups 13:37

okay. Which one of them is a lie? I think it's between fact number two or three.

Andi 13:43

Yeah, I think I'm leaning towards number three. Yeah. Even though I do think like it's possible that some historian has said this and then, so it's technically not a lie because Tanner didn't invent it. But you know, whenever you start talking about like human history and human behavior and you're gonna blame a market crash on poisoning. I don't think so. I think Tulip mania has nothing to do with ingesting

Sups 14:08

to do with I think so

Andi 14:09

true. But the poppy thing is very easy place to lie. All we're talking about all, so it could be like all the poppies except the ones we eat, which is why we eat these ones. You know, like that's true for other flowers. Like we know crocuses are like that. Mm-hmm. you can't eat any other crocuses except the saffron ones. Yes. So maybe poppies are the.

Sups 14:28

exactly the same. Reasoning this, I think these two stand out.

Andi 14:31

It's bizarre. But like we know that beauty trends have always been kind of deadly

Sups 14:36

Exactly.

Andi 14:37

And the Man honey thing is really weird and I feel like no, you should know. Yeah, this isn't true. but I feel a

Sups 14:44

definitely to two and three. Alright. Well we need to pick, so if it's between two and three okay. Maybe I'll go with number two.

Andi 14:51

Okay. And I will go with the crazy Dutch

Tanner 14:53

Okay. All right. the lie is fact number three, the crazy Dutch. Yes. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, which may be a little biased, all species of poppies contain some amount of narcotics. So that's the source for that. Mm-hmm. So they

Sups 15:12

So you are quoting dea? Yeah. Who's literally the job is

Tanner 15:16

Yeah. To find opium.

Andi 15:18

So yeah, I guess it is probably easier for them to officially say check all

Tanner 15:22

pop. Yes. Yes.

Andi 15:24

Okay. So that's like, that's the thing. Maybe Indians know better than the dea.

Sups 15:28

Very, very convenient. This is very convenient fact.

Andi 15:31

Yeah. but Okay. Somebody says it.

Tanner 15:33

Okay. so the tulip bulb is poisonous, this little yellow bitter core.

Andi 15:38

Okay. know what you're talking about. I've seen inside a tulip bulb,

Tanner 15:41

So if you remove that, you can make a great salad with

Andi 15:44

it. Oh, dang.

Tanner 15:45

But, the risk taking and tulip mania and all that had nothing to do with poisonous tulips. One theory is that this, like high risk taking was actually connected to an outbreak of bubonic plague in the area.

Andi 15:59

Sounds like a bunch of white people trying to like, push off the blame onto something else. It's not our fault that we all acted crazy. It's it's the plague, but okay.

Tanner 16:08

and tulip bulbs won't cause high risk activity or loss of inhibitions. They just caused that abdominal upset, dizziness, and the skin

Andi 16:15

Yeah. You know how we should have known that more confidently is if tulips got you high. More people would be. stealing tulips and, and eating tulips. You know, like it would be a thing, Yeah, it would be a thing you'd, people would actually do,

Sups 16:30

True.

Andi 16:31

But I like that you twined those two real things together. Like tulip mania happened and tulips are poisonous. So,

Sups 16:36

Okay. Which I

Tanner 16:37

learned researching this. Yeah.

Andi 16:40

Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't

Tanner 16:41

didn't know. Yeah. Yeah.

Sups 16:42

As it happens in this podcast. Yeah. Always learn something new. Exactly. Every week. never

Andi 16:48

look at a bouquet of flowers the same way.

Sups 16:51

Well, I should have

Andi 16:52

Yeah, I should have thanks for listening to this episode of the I Should Have Known podcast. We're finishing up our anti Valentine's Day theme with this one and Next month we're going to be nerding out as our theme. We're gonna talk about nerdy things, get our pocket protectors and our taped up glasses ready. as always, thanks for listening.

Sups 17:13

No heart. No heart.

Andi 17:14

Yeah.