Ironical love blooms: the anti-Valentine series

The season of love is back again as Valentine's week starts tomorrow! From February 7-14 each year, lovers all over the world gear up for some heavy duty romance. Love is the most beautiful feeling in the world and to express it many choose the traditional approach of gifting roses on February 7 that marks the beginning of the season of passion and celebrated as the Rose Day.

While there is no harm in following this cliché, we bring you some interesting options to celebrate Valentine’s week this time around in the true anti-Valentine spirit. These plants do symbolise love but are poisonous if touched. So all the singles and heartbroken do not fret, use your creativity and make sure you express yourself this year, but with a twist.

The ‘bleeding heart’, also known as the ‘Valentine Flower’ is an amazingly beautiful flower and its name itself symbolises romance. These plants are found in the native US and Canada. They bloom from spring to summer. These fascinating heart-shaped flowers are mostly found in pink and white and are just too eye-catching to be overlooked.

But this symbol of love is harmful to humans. All the parts of this plant are poisonous. When in large quantities, they are said to be toxic. They may cause skin rashes and irritation when they come in contact with the skin. What better gift could you possibly give to the one who broke your precious heart? (*wink)

Cyclamen hederifolium also known as cyclamen. (Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXnFhjpgwzZ/)

This next is cyclamen, also known as the ‘Persian Violet’. They make great indoor plants and their heart shaped leaves certainly make them stand out of the crowd. But cyclamen can cause nausea and even paralysis upon absorption.

Eating large quantities of its thickened roots can be toxic, although cases of ingestion in humans have been quite rare, as these plants have an unpleasant flavour. If ingested, symptoms can include stomach irritation, which can lead to vomiting and diarrhoea. It is also suspected of causing skin irritation if handled without protection. So much for love!

Viscum album also known as the mistletoe. (Photo: Pixabay)

If you’re a hopeless romantic and have dreamt of being kissed under the mistletoe, you might want to think it over again after reading this. The original meaning of mistletoe is not exactly dreamy. The original name of this plant was ‘mistaltan’, where ‘mistal’ means dung and ‘tan’ means twig. So basically everyone has or aspires to kiss under a twig of dung!

Not only that, you will be surprised to learn that mistletoe is not exactly a plant but a parasitic organism. This could be just the perfect way to tell your ex how she/he was to you. The plant is not known to have caused any human fatalities but the leaves and berries of mistletoe can be poisonous, especially if one was to brew its leaves and berries for making tea. It can cause drowsiness, blurred vision, vomiting and even seizures, blood pressure changes and even death if consumed in excess.

We are sure that some of you have already started getting ideas to put these ironical symbolises to good use but be careful! Being anti-Valentine does not mean being anti-human or engaging in any criminal activity.