Defense
The toxin tutin is found in all parts of the plant apart from the fleshy flower petals. Tutu has been responsible for the most cases of livestock poisoning by any New Zealand plant. Dogs and even two circus elephants have been poisoned by the plant. On occasion human poisoning has occurred through consuming honey where bees had interacted with the plant.In 2014, a man tramping in Auckland, New Zealand looking to try the taste of the plant supplejack, mistakenly attempted to eat an asparagus looking young shoot of tutu. He said he did not actually eat any of the plant because of the revolting taste, but within hours he was having a tonic-clonic seizure that dislocated his arm, induced convulsions and made breathing difficult. Academic experts concluded he was lucky to survive the poisoning. A year later he had recovered fully apart from having some trouble with his memory.
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