Poppy/Utah Variscite necklace—fabricated sterling silver, 18 inch chain with lobster claw clasp.
From Krista’s Biota Collection, focusing on toxic and medicinal plants. Poppies are flowering plants, grown for their colorful flowers. One species, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic opium, and thereby medicinal alkaloids such as morphine. Narcotics have been used since ancient times for both medicinal use in the control of pain and other symptoms like cough, and recreational uses. And as with any medicine, are toxic in overdose.
Krista Lavonas Biota Collection
“Poison is in everything, and nothing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.”—Paracelcus
Often shortened to, “The dose makes the poison.”
When I started thinking about Biota, I remembered the ancient Greek word “pharmakon,” meaning both drug and poison. There are many plants that have served as sources for the medications we have used to treat diseases in the past and the present. Often, they are beautiful to look at and have treated illnesses in countless people. On the other hand, if too much or the wrong parts are consumed, they can cause illness or death. Paradox in a plant.