Poison Plants
Toxic Plants

Our email gets a stream of this question:

"Is so-and-so plant poisonous to my children,
to my cat, to my dog ???"

The answers are:

1.  Very Unlikely,  2.  No and  3.  No

We did the research to identify the poison plants we supposedly need to fear

and the Internet is loaded with articles but they are extremely suspect ....for example:

Tomato is on the list

"Headache, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, subnormal temperature, and circulatory and respiratory depression"

Potato is on the list

"Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, stomach pain, cold and clammy skin, dilated pupils, circulatory and respiratory depression, shock and paralysis"

Hot peppers are on the list

"Ingestion of fruit causes burning rash, swollen tissues, intense eye irritation, irritation of the lips, mouth, throat, stomach.  Ingestion may also result in vomiting"

Makes you wonder about the claims for other poisonous plants, right?

If tomato and potato are listed, and we know from experience that problems are ULTRA RARE, what is the academic credibility of the rest of the claimed toxic plant list?

May we ask, the entire history of your life, have you or anybody you know displayed the symptoms listed above from tasting these common eating plants ???

Right, so what do you think the chances are that you will eat a salad bowl full of some plant (that will immediately cause severe mouth pain) ?

Get it?

So Relax.  Whereas it is possible a child, a dog or a cat will taste or ingest a small portion of some plant that is not a normal food, odds are they will HATE THE PAIN and immediately stop.  If not, they probably will soon throw up

Of course, there are some dangers out there, but they are not lurking to kill off your family or pets

To be prudent, look up the phone number for your local poison control facility so you can get immediate advice if you ever need it

But please, don't be afraid of plants