Poisonous Plant List

Poisonous Plant List
Compiled by Maxine Kinne

Common name	Botanical name	Toxicity	Toxic Parts	Toxin
Acorns (see Red Oak)	Quercus	High	all	gallotoxins
Amaryllis	Hippeastrum vittata	Med.	all	lycorine
Andromeda	A. floribunda & polyfolia	High	all	andromedotoxin
Apricot	Prunus armeniaca	High	wilted leaves	cyanide
Arrow Grass (Marsh Grass, Pod Grass, Goose Grass)	Triglochin maritima	High	all	cyanide
Avocado	Persea spp	Low	leaves
Azalea	Rhododendron indicum	High	all	glycosides
Baneberry	Actea rubra	Med.	all	ranunculin glycoside
Beet	Beta spp	.	leaves	.
Bindweed (Wild Morning Glory)	Convolvulus arvensis	Low	all	estropane alkaloids
Bitterweed (Sneezeweed)	Helenium Hymenoxys richarsonii	Med.	all	glycosides sesquiterpene lactones
Black Henbane	Hyscyamus niger	High	all	tropane alkaloids
Black Locust	Robinia pseudoacadia R. neomexicana	High	bark, seeds, new growth	glycoprotein
Black Walnut	Juglans nigra	Med.	all	unknown
Bleeding Heart	Dicentra exemia	Med.	all	various alkaloids
Bluebonnet	Lupinus subcarnosus	.	seed	.
Bouncing Bet (Soapweed)	Saponaria officinalis	Low	all	saponins
Bracken Fern	Pteridium aquilinum	Med.	all	thiaminase
Buckwheat	Fagopyrum esculentum	.	all, except ripe seeds	fagopyrin
Buffalobur - see Kansas Thistle	Solanum rostratum	High	all	solanine
Burdock	Arctium spp.	.	trauma from spiny burs	no toxin present
Burning bush	Euonymus spp.	Low	all	possible glycoside
Buttercup	Ranunculus spp.	Low	all	ranunculin, glycoside
Caladium (Angel's Wings)	Caladium spp	Med.	all	oxalates
Calla Lily	Zantedeschia spp	High	all	oxalates
Castor Bean	Ricinus communis	High	seeds	ricin
Cherry (all varieties)	Prunus cerasus	High	wilted leaves	cyanide
Chokecherry	Prunus virginiana	High	wilted leaves	cyanide
Christmas Rose	Helleborus niger	Low	all	protoanemonin
Clematis	Clematis spp.	Low	all	ranunculin, anemonin
Clover, Alsike (red)	Trifolium spp	.	.	.
Cocklebur	Xanthium spp.	.	burs 2-leaf plantlets trauma from spiny burs	carboxyactractyloside
Cotton Seed	Gossypium spp.	Low	seed	gossypol
Cow Cockle	Saponaria spp.		all, especially seeds	saponins
Cowslips	Caltha palustris
Crocus	Colchium spp	High	all	alkaloid colchicine
Crotolaria	Crotolaria spectabalis	High	all	pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Dock (Sorrel)	Rumex crispus	Low	all	oxalates
Daffodil	Narcissus spp	Med.	all	.
Daphne	Daphne mezerium	High	all	diterpenoid (mezerein)
Death Camas (Death Onion)	Zigadenus spp.	High	all	steroidal alkaloids
Delphinium (Larkspur)	Delphinium spp.	High	all	alkaloids
Desert Baileya	Baileya multiradiata		all	hymenoxon
Dieffenbachia (Dumbcane)	Dieffenbachia spp	Med.	all	oxalates
Dogbane (Indian Hemp)	Apocynum cannabinum	High	all	cardiac glycosides
Dog Fennel (Mayweed)	Anthemis cotula
Dutchman's Breeches	Dicentra cucullaria	Med.	all	numerous alkaloids
Elder (Elderberry, Danewort)	Sambucus	High	foliage	cyanide
Elephant Ear	Colocasia	Med.	all	oxalate
English Ivy	Hedera helix	Med.	all	saponic glycoside
Ergot fungus (infected grain)	Claviceps spp	Med.	all	ergotamine
False Hellebore	Veratrum woodii	Med.	all	various alkaloids
Fescue	Festuca arundinacea	High	all	endophyte fungus
Flax	Linum spp.	High	all linseed oil & linseed cake	cyanide
Foxglove	Digitalis purpurea	High	all	digitalis
Foxtail Barley	Hordeum jubatum	.	awns (mechanical irritant)
Hemlock	Conium maculatum	High	all	conicine
Giant Hogweed, (Cow Parsnip)	Heracleum mantegazzianum	Low	all	.
Holly	Ilex	Low	berries	illicin and others
Horse Chestnut, (Buckeye)	Aesculus spp.	High	all	glycosides narcotic alkaloids
Horsetail	Equisetum spp	High	all	thiaminase
Horseradish	Armoracea rusticana	Low	root	glucosinolates
Hyacinth	Hyacinthus spp	Med.	all
Hydrangea	Hydrangea spp	Med.	all	cyanogenic glycoside
Iris	Iris spp	Med.	all
Jack-in-the pulpit	Arisaema triphyllum	Low	all
Jerusalem Cherry	Physalis spp	High	all	various alkaloids
Jimson Weed (Thornapple)	Datura stramonium	High	all	various alkaloids
Johnsongrass	Sorghum halapense	High	all	cyanide
Jonquil	Narcissus spp	Med.	all	.
Kansas Thistle, Buffalo Burr	Solanum rostratum	High	all trauma from spiny burs	solanine
Laburnum (Golden Chain Tree)	Laburnum anagyroides	High	all	cytisine alkaloid
Lambsquarter (Wormseed)	Chenopodium spp	High	oil from seeds	nitrates
Lantana	Lantana camara	High	all	triterpene acids
Larkspur	Delphinium tricorne	Med.	all	various alkaloids
English Laurel	Prunus laurocerasus	High	wilted leaves, stems, seed	cyanogenic glycoside, amygalin
Lily-of-the-valley	Convallaria majalis	Med.	all	.
Lobelia	Lobelia spp	High	all	pyridine alkaloids
Locoweed	Oxytropis spp	.	all	swainsonine
Lupine	Lupinus spp	High	all	alkaloids
Maple (red)	Acer rubrum	High	leaves	unknown
Milkweed	Asclepius spp	Med.	all	cardiac glycosides, galitoxin
Mistletoe	Phoradendron flavescens	Med.	berries	several toxins
Mock Orange	Philadelphus spp	.	.	.
Mole Plant (Caper Spurge)	Euphorbia lathyris	Low	all	diterpene esters
Monkshood	Aconitum spp	High	all	aconitine
Motherwort	.	.	.	.
Mountain Laurel	Kalmia spplatifolia, K.augustifolia	High	all	andromedotoxin
Narcissus	Narcissus spp	Med.	all
Nettle	Urtica dioica, Laportea canadensis	Low	all	various
Nightshade	Solanum spp	High	all	tropane alkaloids
Oats	Avena sativa	Med.	grain	nitrates, molds
Oleander	Nerium oleander	High	all (incl. smoke)	oleandrin, nerioside
Peach	Prunus persica	High	wilted leaves	cyanide
Pennycress	Thlaspi	Med.	all	isoallyl thiocyanates
Peppergrass	Lepidium	Med.	all	isoallyl thiocyanates
Philodendron	Philodendron spp	Low	all	oxalates
Pigweed	Amaranthus retroflexus	High	all	nephrotoxin, oxalates
Plum	Prunus spp	High	wilted leaves	cyanide
Poinsettia - NOT poisonous	Euphorbia pulcherrima	Reported toxicity is unfounded
Poison Ivy	Rhus radicans	Low	all	3-n-pentadecylcatechol
Poison Oak	Toxicodendron pubescens	High	sap - skin irritant	urushiol
Pokeweed	Phytolacca americana	Low	all	saponins
Poppy	Papaver somniferum	High	all	alkaloids
Potato	Solanum tuberosum	High	foliage	solanine, other alkaloids
Privet	Ligustrum spp	High	berries	glycosides
Ragwort	Senecio	High	all	pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Red Oak (also: Gambel's oak, shinnery oak & post oak)	Quercus rubra (and others)	High	leaves, shoots and acorns	gallotoxins
Rhododendron	Rhododendron spp	High	all	glycosides
Rhubarb	Rheum rhaponticum	High	leaves	oxalates
Rosary Pea	Abrus precatorius	High	seed	abrin, abric acid
Rye Grass	Lolium spp	High	rapidly growing
Sago Palm	Cycas revoluta	Low	all	glycosides, amino acid BMAA
Scotch Broom	Cytissus scoparius	High	all	quinolizidine alkaloids
Skimmia	Skimmia japonica		red fruits	unknown
Skunk Cabbage	Symplocarpus foetida	Low	all	oxalates
Smartweed	Polygonum spp	.	.	nitrates
Sneezeweed (see Bitterweed)	Helenium spp	Low	all	sesquiterpene lactone
Snow-on-the-mountain	Euphorbia marginata	High	all	cocarcinogenic diterpenoids
Spurge (many varieties)	Euphorbia spp.	Low	all	diterpene esters
St. John's Wort	Hypericum perforatum	Med.	all	hypericin
Sudan Grass ?????	Sorghum vulgare or sudanensis ??	.	.	nitrates
Sweet Pea	Lathyrus spp	Low	seeds	amine, phenol & glycoside
Thistle (Canada, Russian)	Cirsium arvense, Rumex spp	Low	all	nitrates
Toadstools	.	.	all	.
Tobacco	Nicotiana spp	Med.	all	nictotine (alkaloid)
Tomato	Lycopersicon esculentum	Med.	foliage	glycoalkaloids
Vetch (some varieties)	Vicia spp	.	seed	cyanide
Water Hemlock (Cowbane)	Cicuta spp	High	all	cicutoxin
White Snakeroot	Eupatorium rugosum	High	all	tremetol
Wild Carrot	Daucus carota	Low	leaves	falcarinol
Wild Cherry	Prunus serotina	High	wilted leaves, twigs, seed	cyanide
Wild Mustard	Brassica	Med.	all	isoallyl thiocyanates
Wisteria	Wisteria spp	High	seeds and pods	unknown
Yellow Jessamine	Gelsemium spp	High	all	alkaloids
Yew	Taxus spp	High	all	taxine

_{Note: Prunus spp. are trees that produce fruits with a single
seed or pit (apricot, cherry and plum).

These plants produce toxins in the bark and in wilted leaves,
but not in fresh leaves or d}_r_i_e_d_leaves.

Other Common Poisons
Creosote-treated wood Fertilizers Grain, fed in excess Grain, moldy or sour smelling	Hay, moldy or sour smelling Herbicides Insecticides Lead paint	Medication overdoses Pastures, freshly fertilized Rodent poisons & baits

Home Articles Links

©	Copyright 1987 Updated 2004 All rights reserved