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Cashews, poison ivy, mangoes, pistachios, Chinese lacquer plant are all in the same plant family. I think about that whatever I see poison ivy, that there could be a mango tree, if that plant was a little bit more like it’s cousin.
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Just a quick reminder that plants are not your friends, they don’t want to be eaten and they take measures to prevent it
Over 80% of plants are toxic or straight poisonous. The ones we buy in the shops are monsters that had been bred on purpose to eliminate toxins and maximise flavour
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This was in a market; cashew apples are widely eaten, but some people are allergic.
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This is not true of many fruits, which have evolved to be eaten so that their seeds are dispersed by animals, along with a nice helping of fertilizer.
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Fruits and berries usually want to be eaten by something, although that something might not include humans.
Cattle, rabbits and birds eat deadly nightshade with no effects on their health.
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The whole point of fruit is to be eaten, so seeds are spread around
ETA:
@nprnncblband @the_borderer since I owe you a coke, and we’re talking about fruit, here’s some kola nuts
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When they are ripe, the skin is thin enough to bite through. So, I would eat them out of hand like a juicy peach. They are better cold.
I’ve been thinking about it, and having eaten these as a little kid is possibly why I am not allergic to poison ivy. Neither was my dad.
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Not only that, the chemical gets its name from the lacquer (well, the tree that’s the source of the lacquer) – not the other way around.
The sap contains the allergenic compound urushiol, which gets its name from this species’ Japanese name urushi (urushi (漆)); “urushi” is also used in English as a collective term for all kinds of Asian lacquerware made from the sap of this and related Asian tree species
I am learning all kinds of new things today.
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yeee guys, I said over 80% of plants are toxic, not that ALL plants are toxic
in any case, have you ever seen the original non domesticated fruits? they are miniscule, food of seeds and not very appealing, usually bitter tasting an thick skinned
To make a fruit is a huge investment for the plant, so they try to give away as little as possible
In the last few hundred years humans have domesticated and bred seedless monsters that are hundreds of times bigger than the original and are full of sugars and esters to make them taste nice
But that was not the original intention when plants evolved to make fruits
What I meant is that when it comes to wild plants the default assumption should be that they contain a bunch of nasty chemicals that can mess you up badly so one should refrain from eating them unless absolutely sure is safe
And that includes unknown fruits in foreign countries
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Obligatory
So for the record, urushiol is not one compound but a series of them. They have a catechol head and various hydrocarbon tails. The latter allow them to be absorbed, and then the former is easily oxidized to quinones that set off the allergic reaction. What makes the lacquer tree special is those tails have double bonds ready to join together and form polymers, so the resin will harden.
Saying 80% of plants are poisonous seems really high to me – a lot are simply inedible or distateful to us. Toxins are expensive for the plant to produce, and many won’t bother with more than deterring fungi and insects, or only protecting key parts like seeds. A very common defense are tannins, and humans can handle fairly large amounts before we need to spit something out. We usually like essential oils.
Even good fruits can be dangerous though. The worst I know are ackees. They’re enjoyed when ripe, but potentially fatal when they’re not ready. 
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