Toxic plant with ‘doll’s eyes’ is dangerous, experts warn. ‘Don’t make eye contact’

A photo of something resembling a bloody plant with multiple eyeballs is giving people the willies on social media, and the National Park Service can be blamed.

The creepy image is from Shenandoah National Park in western Virginia, where the surreal flowering plant is found among fall foliage, the NPS reported in a Nov. 5 Facebook post.

It’s also toxic, experts say.

“Don’t make eye contact,” the NPS joked. “The plant’s most striking feature is its fruit, a 1 cm diameter white berry, whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species the name, ‘doll’s eyes’.”

Called the white baneberry, the plants produce toxins that cause a variety of symptoms in people that are largely painful, experts say.

“The berries and the entire plant are considered poisonous to humans and can lead to vomiting, delirium, and stomach cramps,” the NPS said.

A burning mouth and throat, drooling and hallucinations are also possible, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Texas.

White baneberry pops up in the shaded areas of “deciduous woods and thickets,” which are common in national parks of the eastern U.S.

The park service Facebook post featuring the photo had gotten more than 40,000 reactions and comments as of Nov. 9, many from people who found the plant disturbing and “straight out of a horror movie.”

“Thanks for telling me not to eat the eyeballs growing on a blood red stalk in the woods, I was totally gonna do that otherwise,” Elizabeth Helms wrote.

“Either God got super creative with this one, or he said — whatever and threw wonky leftover eyeballs on a Charlie Brown Christmas tree,” Melinda Erb Kean posted.

“Pretty sure I would turn around and go home if I encountered this in the forest,” Chantal Crossman said.

“If ever a plant said ‘don’t put me in your mouth’, this is it,” Katherine MH wrote.

This story was originally published November 9, 2023 at 1:28 PM.