Poisonous plants

[DeborahJane]

When I moved to the southwest I loved my backyard. It looked like a jungle with so many plants growing. One of those plants was called bougainvillea and they lined my entire backyard on three sides. It's a flowering vine and they grew way over 14 feet tall -- they were gorgeous. Picture perfect.

At the time I had two poodles who roamed the backyard at their leisure. They never went near the bougainvillea, which is a good thing. When I decided I was tired of all the maintenance, I had them all cut down. That wasn't an easy process, due to their age and ro

After they were cut down I learned that plant is mildly toxic to dogs and children if eaten, because it can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Here is a picture from the public domain:
View attachment 9456

Bougainvillea are spectacular. I tried one when I first starts gardening and it died. I may give it another go as I really didn't take too much notice of planting things in appropriate positions. My criteria was where it would look good which in quite a few instances didn't work of course. I will listen to what it want this time

 

[Java Guy]

OLEANDER = DEATH!!!

Isn't this picture beautiful. The little boy shows curiosity toward the pretty flowers. The unsuspecting parent has just placed their child literally inches from death!!

Just touching this plant, any part of it, can cause irritation.

Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and throat:

• Blurred vision
• Vision disturbances, including halos

Gastrointestinal:

• Diarrhea
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Vomiting

Heart and blood:

• Irregular or slow heartbeat
• Low blood pressure
• Weakness

Nervous system:

• Confusion
• Death
• Depression
• Disorientation
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Fainting
• Headache
• Lethargy

Skin:

• Hives
• Rash

 

[Java Guy]

Thought I'd add a picture of my Oleander. It's not flowering yet...still a baby. I didn't know how poisonous they were until after I grew a bunch from seed this last April. I noticed some skin irritation after potting them up the first time and researched them.

 

[Beth_B]

One year, when I lived in Colorado, I grew castor bean plants along the front of my house. I don't recall where got them, but they grew incredibly fast, were pretty, and by the end of summer were taller than my one-story house.
By the following year I found out that they were also extremely toxic, a single bean can kill a child if eaten and several can kill a pet. My neighbors had little kids (who would come over to play in my yard) and I had dogs - So I never planted them again.
http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/pow/castor_bean.htm

"Ricin is incredibly toxic. As little as 0.5 mg (the amount contained in several seeds) can kill an adult. One seed can kill a child. We are not the only sensitive animals. Four seeds will kill a rabbit, 5 a sheep, 6 an ox or horse, 7 a pig, 11 a dog, but it takes 80 to kill a duck. Ricin has been investigated for its potential use as an insecticide.

Symptoms of ricin poisoning begin within hours after exposure by ingestion or inhalation. They include stomach irritation, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, increased heart rate, low blood pressure, profuse sweating, collapse, convulsions, and death within a few days. Victims that do not die in 3 to 5 days usually recover. There is no antidote for ricin poisoning."

Was a cool plant though.

 

[alexiskilgannon]

We have a ton of poisonous plants that are native to California, but I have none in my garden. At least I don't know of any that are in my garden. Majority of the plants I have are edible and the ones that are not, I suppose might not be good to ingest.

 

[IcyBC]

I have many poisonous plants in the yard too, wildly grew and some common ones such as lily of the valley, nightshade, and narcissus too. Lily of the valley is very poisonous to dog, so I have been trying to remove them, but they re-seed themselves every year.