Did you know that honey has once decided a battle? That the purity law for beer was originally aimed at a local narcotic plant? That the miracle tree Palma Christi produces a protein listed in the German War Weapons Control Act? How many plants in your home garden and in parks are toxic? Answers to many intriguing questions like these are provided in the book "Poisonous Plants" by Fritz Schade and Harald Jockusch. The artist Schade has portrayed poisonous plants from nature using colored pencils, while the biologist Jockusch provides information on botanical, biochemical, and toxicological facts. The illustrations are enlivened by historical insights, anecdotes, and personal experiences. In the book, the arrangement of the species roughly follows the seasonal sequence of the first appearance of conspicuous toxic plant parts.