Meet the Sore-Eye Flower (Boophone disticha)—a plant so toxic and hallucination-inducing, its mere flowering in a closed space can cause headaches and sore eyes!
Native to Africa, this striking perennial grows from a bulb and is famous for its fan-shaped leaves and dazzling red-to-pink blooms. But don’t be fooled by its beauty—this plant packs a punch. After flowering, its seed head detaches and rolls away like a tumbleweed, earning it another common name, Tumbleweed.
Although there are no confirmed reports of hallucination just from the scent, its airborne alkaloids do cause neurological effects, including dizziness, headaches and possibly mild alterations in perceptions, in a similar way to confirmed effects caused by Brugmansia and Datura.
For centuries, the Khoi, Bushmen, and Bantu have used its potent toxins to make arrow poisons. Yet, despite its dangerous nature, the Sore-Eye Flower is prized by gardeners for its unique architectural appeal.
Traditional South African medicine has long harnessed this plant for central nervous system disorders, inflammation, gynecological conditions, psychosis, wounds, and infections.
Healers have used the bulb’s scales to aid wound healing, while fresh leaves help stop bleeding. It’s even used for depression, divination, veterinary medicine, and as a powerful disinfectant.
This plant contains alkaloids like crinamidine, buphandrin, and buphanine, the last of which acts like scopolamine, inducing intense hallucinations, pain relief, stupor, agitation—and in high doses, even death.
Its sore-eye inducing effect is pretty unusual amongst flowers, and it is thought to be due to volatile alkaloids and other airborne compounds released during flowering.
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**This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.