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Mental Floss

PLANTS

inga/iStock via Getty Images

That "Fresh Cut Grass" Smell Is a Distress Signal

Trauma, that’s what. It’s the smell of chemical defenses and first aid. The fresh, “green” scent of a just-mowed lawn is the lawn trying to save itself from the injury you just inflicted.

Matt Soniak

Belladonna or deadly nightshade: Pretty but poisonous

5 Classic Poisons and the People Who Used Them

Long before modern industries developed the cleaning products, industrial solvents, and drugs that can kill when misused, people used simple plants to murder each other.

Miss Cellania

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