QI’ve read that the autumn crocus bulb can be deadly. Is this true? I want my victims killed by a badly maltreated gardener, but I want one to survive. If not, is there a plant poison that kills quickly in relatively small doses yet can be survived with treatment? What dosages would he have to use?
JL
AAutumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) will work well for you. The toxin in this plant is the alkaloid colchicine. All parts of the plant are toxic, and the symptoms usually appear three to six hours after ingestion. The symptoms are nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, low body temperature, shock, and death.
As far as dosing goes, it’s impossible to say since each plant contains a different concentration of the colchicine and each person reacts differently. Besides, your villain wouldn’t know how much to give, so he’d just add some to food or drink and see what happened.
Why would one person survive and another not? Luck is part of it. Also, one person might get a smaller dose of the toxin or might react less violently to it or might take it on a full stomach (as opposed to empty), which would slow the absorption and make it less toxic.
Treatment of the survivor would include an emetic to induce vomiting if he was awake and responsive and a large gastric tube to lavage (pump) the stomach if he was less responsive. Large amounts of IV fluids would be given to flush what was in the bloodstream through the kidneys. He would be kept warm, and drugs (vasopressors) to support the blood pressure (BP) would be given if his BP dropped to low levels. Common vasopressors would be epinephrine, dopamine, and dobutamine.