December is over and the new year is here. It’s a time for weddings, anniversaries, childbirths and birthdays — a season of giving and receiving. And what better way to mark these occasions than with bouquets of colourful flowers — tuberoses, roses and gladiolas?

But choosing a visually appealing, large floral bouquet, to add more meaning to a momentous event, may backfire — as the excessively used stems, with tiny white, daisy-like flowers at the top, could unintentionally prove harmful.

Take a closer look at the flower bunches sold at your neighbourhood florist… the flowers are sparse and scattered, and most of the volume is created by weeds taped together with floral stems. That weed is called parthenium or parthenium hysterophorus and it is locally known as gajar booti. This weed is poisonous and regular contact with it is known to harm not only humans, but also animals and the environment.

So, the next time you sneeze or cough, your skin itches or you face difficulty in breathing, don’t be quick to blame the smoggy, dry weather. The culprit could be this weed in the bouquet, lovingly brought to you by someone dear.

Parthenium, or gajar booti, is a poisonous weed, which is widely used by florists and mostly ignored by farmers, with the majority unaware that regular contact with it can result in lifelong health issues in humans and animals, and also cause lasting damage to the environment…

DO YOU KNOW…

The Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) is an international, inter-governmental, not-for-profit organisation that applies scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and environment. According to their research, close contact with parthenium may cause dermatitis and respiratory problems, such as hay fever, bronchitis or asthma.

The same CABI findings disclosed that........

© Dawn (Magazines)