Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius)

• A herbaceous flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae
• Commonly known as jequirity bean or rosary pea and is native to Asia and Australia
• It is a slender, perennial climber with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves that twine around trees, shrubs, and hedges
• The plant is best known for its seeds, which are used as beads and in percussion instruments, also valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. The seeds are toxic because of the presence of abrin
• Ingestion of a single seed, well chewed, can be fatal to both children and adults
• In traditional medicine the white variety is used to prepare oil that is claimed to be an aphrodisiac, while a tea is made from the leaves and used for fevers, coughs and
  colds