Crown Flower

The crown flower is a large shrub up to 4 metres tall, native to India and much of South and Southeast Asia, with oval light green leaves, milky stems and clusters of waxy flowers that are white or lavender, each with a small crown rising from the centre. The page calls it a poisonous plant. Its latex has been used as an arrow poison and a cattle poison, and is mostly an accidental poison; touching the sap and then the eye, for instance while making a Hawaiian lei, can cause crown flower keratitis. In Hindu mythology, the Shiva Purana says Lord Shiva likes the flower, so the flower and its garlands are offered to him, and it is one of the Navagraha trees. Ayurveda uses its root, leaf and bark.