Pong Pong tree: From 'The White Lotus' finale to deadly exhibit in Chicago

CHICAGO - The creators of "The White Lotus" started planting seeds about Thailand’s deadly Pong Pong tree in the very first episode.

And if you’re among the nearly seven-million people who watched this weekend’s season finale, you already know: the seeds of the Pong Pong fruit are deadly poisonous.

It’s why it’s also called the "suicide tree." But you don’t have to go to Thailand to find the deadly plant.

What we know:

"In this cabinet we have all of our locked-away poisonous specimens," said Field Museum botanist Kimberly Hansen, unlocking a large metal cabinet in the museum’s fourth-floor collections wing. "We’ve got lots of dangerous things here."

Hansen has the key to one of the deadliest collections of seeds and plants in the world.

"It’s not certain death. But even a single seed has certainly killed people," she said, holding a box containing fruit from the Pong Pong tree.

That’s the fruit made famous in "The White Lotus" finale, when a character considers committing murder-suicide by blending the deadly seeds into a piña colada.

"If you eat it, your body’s going to respond by trying to purge it," Hansen said. "So you’re going to start vomiting, diarrhea — any way to get it out of your system before it takes full effect. But what it does is affect your heart. It basically causes heart failure."

Most of the Field’s poisonous plant collection comes from around the world. But the danger isn’t far — it could be in your own backyard.

"These grow as weeds at the side of the road all over the world," Hansen said. She explained that common plants like milkweed, sunflowers and certain types of beans can kill or make you violently ill.

"What I recommend is not being afraid of plants. What I recommend is respecting plants and not doing any casual grazing, not knowing exactly what it is."

And here’s the most amazing part — many deadly plants are also used to make life-saving medicine. It’s all about knowing how to strip away the bad parts.

So why are so many plants poisonous?

"Because they don’t want to be eaten," Hansen said. "That’s the way they defend themselves. We have defense strategies, and this is one way plants defend themselves — because they can’t run away."

What's next:

On Monday, the deadly seeds will go on display at the Field Museum for one day. 

There will also be a presentation by Hansen, who said she hasn’t seen "The White Lotus" — but as a botanist, "I’m just happy that people are wanting to learn more about plants."