Deadly poison - Flowerfields

Murder by poison is as old as time. And plants like me, that are lethal in high concentrations, have often played a leading role in these murders.

In 1311, for example, Cangrande della Scala, the patron of the poet Dante Alighieri, died mysteriously at the age of 38.

There were immediate rumours he’d been poisoned, and when his body was exhumed in 2004, sure enough deadly concentrations of digoxin and digitoxin were found in his body. Was it an overdose – or murder?

Netflix could make a whole True Crimes series about me.

One of the most famous serial killers in America, Charles ‘the angel of death’ Cullen, had also discovered my toxic side.

Charles was a nurse who worked at several different hospitals and nursing homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He suffered from a psychological disorder and was known for his ‘erratic’ behaviour.

That turned out to be quite the understatement: after his arrest in 2003, the ‘sick nurse’ was held responsible for more than 400 deaths.

And guess what he used to kill most of his victims? Digoxin, or me!