Most poisonous plant used in decorative arts

The rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) is a climbing vine in the bean family (Leguminosae) native to Asia and Australia. Ingestion of just one seed, if thoroughly masticated, may cause fatal poisoning. Despite this high toxicity (0.1–1 µg/kg is enough to be fatal in humans), rosary pea seeds, also known as jequirity beans, are used to make jewellery and rosaries, as well as handicrafts and musical instruments, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. The plant contains a poisonous lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) called abrin, which can cause bleeding, convulsions and failure of multiple organs in the body that can result in death.

Some reports suggest that jewellery makers who accidentally prick their fingers while working with jequirity beans have become ill and even died as a result.

Lab studies suggest that abrin may be as much as four times more potent than ricin, another lectin derived from the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis).