Here are the answers to Grangetto's Garden Trivia questions.
| Plants on Trial | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. Charged: The oil contained in the bitter almond contains a poison. | Verdict: Guilty! The bitter almond contains hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid), but this acid can be removed, and the reformed almond oil is then a useful citizen serving as a number of flavorings. |
| 2. Charged: Common pokeweed, Phytolacca Americana, attempts to poison children with attractive berries. | Verdict: Guilty! The berries and roots do contain poison that can be refined and used to control certain blood disorders and relieve pain. |
| 3. Charged: The common tomato contains a deadly poison called solanine though it still continues to dress and act like a responsible citizen. | Verdict: Not Guilty! Only the leaves, and to a lesser degree the unripe fruit, contain a mild toxin. We fend for the defendant on the grounds that much public service is done that far outweighs the danger. |
| 4. Charged: The kudzu vine is involved in mob activity and is attempting to take over our landscape. | Verdict: Guilty! The kudzu was imported as a potential erosion control and forage crop, but it escaped its original confinement and now poses a threat because of its rampant growth. |
| 5. Charged: The needles and bark of the hemlock tree were instrumental in the death of Socrates, the Greek philosopher. The statute of limitations may make the outcome of this one questionable. | Verdict: Not Guilty! It was a case of mistaken identity. The hemlock that is poisonous is a member of the umbellifera family, which includes carrots and parsnips. The tsuga or hemlock tree was used by the Native Americans as a source of many medications. |
| 6. Charged: The dogwood tree supplied the material for the cross used in the execution of Jesus Christ. | Verdict: Not Guilty! The flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, has a good alibi. He has never lived near the scene of the crime and he was in the company of oaks, beeches, redbuds, maples and other upstanding members of the Eastern mixed hardwood forest community. |
| 7. Charged: The North American May apple is guilty of producing poisonous fruit. | Verdict: Not Guilty! Not only is the fruit very tasty, but the humanitarian nature of the plant is just now being explored. The Penobscot Indians used Podophyllum peltatum in the treatment of cancerous tumors. Modern medicine is studying its apparent positive effect. |
| 8. Charged: The cocoa plant, while providing the flavorful if caffine-laden chocolate from its seeds, also deals in drugs. Cocaine is produced from the leaves. | Verdict: Not Guilty! A false accusation, but the slander is easy to understand. The plant producing cocaine is also from the South American tropics, and the natives call it coca (Erythroxylon coca), easily confused with cocao (Theobroma). |
| 9. Charged: Deadly nightshade has on several occasions fatally poisoned innocent people by luring them with sweet berries. | Verdict: Guilty! The nightshade (Atropa belladonna) has provided the belladonna used in eye examinations and formerly in some cosmetics, but the habitual preying on small children who need eat only a few of the berries make him a very antisocial plant. Prosecution also pointed out that he was used in the assassination of the Roman Emperor Claudius. |
| 10. Charged: Cherry leaves have poisoned cattle | Verdict: Guilty! But leniency must be given because only the dead and dying leaves are hazardous. |