Is it Poisonous?

One of my readers sent me this question that has me talking about our Poinsettia plant again and I thought that this would be a good time to talk about the toxicity of houseplants.

The Poinsettia

First, the Poinsettia has been long rumored to be poisonous. The story of a poisoning of a child in 1919 after ingesting a few leaves cannot be confirmed as there is no medical record of the incident. The truth is that many tests have been on rats and rabbits that were feed large amounts of this plant with no effect.  However, the milky sap has been know to be an skin irritant and there are toxins in the plant that may have an adverse effect on some small children and pets. The death of a small dog in Switzerland was attributed to eating Poinsettia leaves is one isolated occurrence.

The Aracae Family

The most common Dieffenbachia

Dieffenbachia

The most dangerous houseplant in my opinion is the Dieffenbachia.  The sap of the plant when it comes in contact with moist parts of the body will cause immediate swelling with redness and stabbing pain.  The good thing about this is that if leaf is chewed, the swelling will hopefully prevent swallowing.  The bad part is that that the swelling can last several days with a lot of drooling.  In severe cases there will be a loss of speech - hence its name which translates to Dumb Cane. 


The Dieffenbachia is favored for its large patterened leaf.  The oldest one I know is the one pictured above.  I remember my mother had one in her livingroom when I was growing up.  It finally fell over when it reached a heighth of 8 feet and the ceiling of the room was only 71/2 feet.  Since then there have been many different leaf patterns offerings on the market.  I have two of them pictured here.
 



More plants in the Araceae family to watch are the Anthurium and Philodendron.  The Anthurium is loved for its simple bloom that comes in a variety of reds, pinks and whites.  A larger variety also has a purple blossom.  It has not had any case of serious poisoning reported.  The Philodendron which is a large genus has been responsible for skin complaints.  Care should be used around animals as there was a report written in 1961 by Greer that cited 72 cases of cats in which 37 died from eating Philodendrons.


This picture is the split leave variety call the Saddle Leaf  Philodendron. This is a large family so if you are not sure ask.

Other plants to be careful with are in the Amaryllis family which include the Daffodil. The poisonous part of these plants is the bulb and most reported poisonings were when the bulb was confused with an onion.  Digestion of the leaves will cause salivation, vomiting and diarrhoea.  As you can see, this can be very dangerous for a small child.

If it happens call for help

There is a lot to remember so try to keep it simple.  Take care in where you place your plants.  If you have large floor plants, it is OK to put a stake that identifies what it is.  Have the Poison Control number right next to your Doctor's.  Then if you find that you child, dog or cat has chewed on a plant you will have the information at your disposal for the center when you call.   It is best to be safe than sorry. 

I want to thank my reader who submitted this question.  It is an important issue to remember when bringing plants into our homes.  If you have any other questions, post them here or email me at houseplantsos@gmail.com .

k.k.jones