Kaner

We had a young girl who came after eating the fruit of the plant which was locally called 'Kaner'. 

The relatives were kind enough to bring the fruit with a bunch of leaves.

As you can see from the snap above, it is basically - Yellow Oleander. 

Yes, as most of us know, it has compounds which cause cardiac toxicity. 

In Kerala, we are very familiar with Otholanga poisoning. I remember families taking it in suicide pacts . . .  Terrible stories of the entire family committing suicide after a curry made out of Otholanga is served. 

However, Otholanga is different from Yellow Oleander. 

And the Yellow Oleander is a total different species from the traditional Oleandar. I remember the Oleander as a shrub which is very popular for butterflies to lay their eggs on. 

The common factor to these three plants is the cardiac glycosides present in them which can be fatal. 

So, the 3 plants poisoning which many a time get written up as Otholanga poisoning get treated the same way. 

I wonder if there is a difference in the fatality between the 3 plants. 

By the way, the young girl responded well to treatment and has since been discharged from hospital.