List of poisonous plants

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This is a list of plants containing poisonous parts that pose a serious risk of illness, injury, or death to humans.

Contents 1 Poisonous food plants 2 Poisonous garden plants 3 Poisonous ornamental plants 3.1 Notes 4 Poisonous wild plants 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Poisonous food plants

• Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Can contain the glycoalkaloid solanine; this develops as the eyes prepare to sprout chiefly as a result of exposure to light. Green tinged flesh is a sign that this process has begun. Some regard raw potatoes as inedible. Cooked potatoes are softer and easier to chew.
• Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Foliage and vines contain alkaloid poisons
• Rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum) Leaves contain oxalic acid salts
• Cherry (Prunus cerasus), as well as other species such as peach, plum, almond and apricot (Prunus) Leaves and pits contain cyanogenic glycosides
• Pokeweed (Phytolacca sp.) Leaves, berries and roots contain phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin - toxin in young leaves is reduced when boiled (twice is often suggested).

[edit] Poisonous garden plants

• Privet (Ligustrum sp.) Possibly fatal to humans, berries contain ligustrin and syringin
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) Fatal to humans, contain cardiac or steroid glycosides
• Lilies Most are poisonous, especially to cats
• Yew (Taxus baccata, the "English yew") All parts of the plant, except for the fleshy red bit of the fruit, contain taxane alkaloids
• Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) All parts of the plant contain the toxic alkaloid atropine
• Oleander (Nerium oleander) All parts are toxic, containing nerioside, oleandroside, saponins, cardiac glycosides, but especially the leaves and woody stems
• Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) Oil is purgative; seed meal separate from oil is source of the deadly toxic protein, Ricin
• Aconite (wolfsbane, monkshood) (Aconitum napellus) The poison is concentrated in the unripe seed pods and roots
• Delphinium Contains the alkaloid Delsoline

[edit] Poisonous ornamental plants

• Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis) Castor Oil Plant; The phytotoxin is ricin, a water soluble protein, which is concentrated in the seed. Also present are ricinine, an alkaloid, and an irritant oil.
• Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia); All parts of the plant contains the tropane alkaloids scopolamine and atropine.
• Datura; Contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine

[edit] Notes

• Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) Notable for not being poisonous, despite persistent beliefs to the contrary

[edit] Poisonous wild plants

• Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Poison Oak (T.diversilobum), and Poison Sumac (T.vernix) All contain a highly irritating oil known as urushiol(this is actually not a poison but an allergen)
• Deadly Nightshade/Belladonna (Atropa belladonna) All parts of the plant contain the toxic alkaloid atropine
• Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) All parts of the plant except the ripe fruit contain the toxic glycoalkaloid solanine
• Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) All parts of the plant contain the relatively simple alkaloid coniine
• Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) Green portions of the plant, unripe fruit, and especially the rhizome contain the non-alkaloidal toxin podophyllotoxin

[edit] See also

• Poison
• Toxin
• Poisonous Mushrooms

[edit] External links

• Herbarium of toxic plants
• US Army: Guide to poisonous and toxic plants