‘Nightmarish’ plant with delirium-inducing ‘eyeballs’ prompts warning from park rangers

A “nightmarish” plant sprouting eyeball-like growths is creeping people out on social media — and as if its appearance wasn’t enough to deter you, wildlife officials recently warned it’s plenty poisonous too.

The plant has a blood-red stalk and white and black berries that give it a “creepy eyeball aesthetic,” the National Park Service said in a Oct. 12 Facebook post, sharing a photo of the eerie flora.

“Is that plant looking at me?” parks officials asked. “Did it just blink?”

It’s not often that nature conjures up such a perfect Halloween decoration. Shenandoah National Park in Virginia originally posted about the plant in 2022, but when the NPS shared the photo on Saturday, along with a renewed warning, it garnered hundreds of comments from people feeling uneasy, yet intrigued.

“As if the eyeballs weren’t enough, they all have reddish ‘optic nerves’ attaching them together. Nightmarish,” one person commented.

“Why do I hear the plant saying, ‘Feed me. I’m hungry!’” said another.

Most commonly called white baneberry, or doll’s-eyes, the toxic plant is pretty much as dangerous as it looks, park officials said. While birds have no issue eating the doll’s eyes fruit, it’s poisonous to people and, if consumed, can cause vomiting, cramps and delirium.

“There was never any chance of my eating this,” a person commented. “Never.”

“This plant just screams ‘Don’t Eat Me!’ Why any human would think such a grotesque thing was palatable is beyond me…” said another.

While the berries and roots are particularly hazardous, the entire plant is poisonous, according to North Carolina State University. Eating the plant is known to cause “severe pain” in the mouth and throat and can be fatal to pets and livestock as well as people.

Doll’s-eyes grows across much of the U.S., typically in “forests or other natural areas, such as rich woods, deciduous woodlands, ravines, thinly wooded bluffs, and the bases of bluffs,” the university said.

Shenandoah National Park is roughly 70 miles west from Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published October 13, 2024 at 3:52 PM with the headline "‘Nightmarish’ plant with delirium-inducing ‘eyeballs’ prompts warning from park rangers."