Farmers beware, oleander seeds on the way

PEET DU RANDT of Blue Gill writes:

The articles about human waste used as fertiliser on farms refers.

If Erasmus insists on using human waste in such a way that it irritates me, I will retaliate.

I will proceed to flush lots and lots of oleander seeds (olieboom) down the toilet. Eventually Erasmus will have to spend lots of money to get these weeds eradicated, and this will result in the destruction of his polluted crops.

And I want to inform Erasmus, if one seed of Datura ferox is found in your harvest, you will lose your whole crop. There is no free ride.

l Datura ferox, commonly known as Long Spined Thorn Apple or Fierce Thornapple, is a species of Datura.

Like all such species, every part of the plant contains deadly toxins that can kill animals that ingest it. Its fruit, red-brown when ripe, has unusually long thorns or spikes.

Datura ferox is an upright shrub 1½ to 3 feet high. Its thick stalks often have a red-violet colour at the base.

All the young shoots are noticeably hairy. The most conspicuous part of the plant is its very wide undulate, irregularly-toothed leaves, which are covered with soft, downy hairs.

The yellowish white flowers are funnel-shaped and inconspicuous, and usually do not open completely.