Gelsemium
Gelsemium is an Asian and North American genus of flowering plants belonging to family Gelsemiaceae. The genus contains three species of shrubs to straggling or twining climbers. Two species are native to North America, and one to China and Southeast Asia.
Carl Linnaeus first classified G. sempervirens as Bignonia sempervirens in 1753; Antoine Laurent de Jussieu renamed the genus in 1789. Gelsemium is a Latinized form of the Italian word for jasmine, gelsomino. G. elegans is also nicknamed "heartbreak grass".
Properties
All three species of this genus are poisonous.
Active Components
The active components of gelsemium are the alkaloids, which are present in a concentration of about 0.5%. These consist primarily of gelsemine (a highly toxic compound related to strychnine), with lesser amounts of related compounds (gelsemicine, gelsedine, etc). Other compounds found in the plant include scopoletin (also called gelsemic acid), a small amount of volatile oil, fatty acid and tannins.
Gelsemium has been shown to contain methoxyindoles.
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On Second Thoughts
by: Colosseum IiThe waves comin' in,
Sweeping up on the shore.
Bringing back the time
When our love was here before.
Clouds sinking down,
The hills are turning black.
I've seen it all before,
Think I'll make my way back.
Once there was laughter
Where now there's only pain.
All the childrens' sand caverns
Turn to mud by, by the rain.
My feet, they are sinking,
I'm feelin' so alone.
I see the storm is comin',
Time to make my way home.
Cold wind is ablowin',
Thunder he cracks.
I have seen it all before,