In Sri Lanka and southern India, the plant most frequently implicated in deliberate self-poisoning with cardiac glycosides, earning it the name 'suicide tree', is:
- A Nerium oleander (white oleander)
- B Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander) ✓
- C Cerbera manghas (sea mango)
- D Digitalis purpurea (foxglove)
Correct answer: B. Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander)
Explanation
Thevetia peruviana, the yellow oleander, grows ubiquitously as an ornamental hedge in South Asia and its attractive kernels are freely available, making it the leading plant source of cardiac glycoside self-poisoning in Sri Lanka and southern India. Its toxins are thevetin A and B, neriifolin, and peruvoside. Digitalis is cultivated only as a pharmaceutical crop, and Cerbera manghas is coastal rather than widespread inland.
Reference: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 21st ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.