Do not let its beauty fool you. A newly identified and exquisitely preserved flower found entombed in amber — fossilized tree sap — may have packed quite a punch.
Scientists announced recently the discovery of the flower that lived 20 million to 30 million years ago, named Strychnos electri, inside amber dug out of the side of a mountain in the Dominican Republic.
It was a member of a group of flowers that are today the source of the poisons strychnine and curare. According to the researchers, it also likely boasted toxic compounds.