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Horticultural Database Potentially harmful garden plants
Here is a list of plants which are often found in, or available for planting in, gardens. It describes three types of potential risk.
External effects as
i) Skin irritants
ii) Eye irritants Internal effects as
iii) Poisons The poisons category includes plants known to present any level of hazard. When eaten, some may cause mild illness, and a very few may cause severe poisoning. The correct approach is to avoid eating any plants listed as poisonous.
All of these plants are safe to grow provided they are treated with respect. Remember they are ornamental plants not food plants.
Common name Aconite: see Aconitum
Angel’s trumpet: see Brugmansia
Buckthorn: see Rhamnus
Burning bush: see Dictamnus
Castor oil plant: see Ricinus
Cherry laurel: see Prunus laurocerasus
Chincherinchee: see Ornithogalum
Christmas cherry: see Solanum
Columbine: see Aquilegia
Daffodil: see Narcissus
Datura, tree: see Brugmansia
Dumb cane: see Dieffenbachia
Foxglove: see Digitalis
Frangula: see Rhamnus
Giant hogweed: see Heracleum mantegazzianum
Glory lily: see Gloriosa
Henbane: see Hyoscyamus
Ivy: see Hedera
Larkspur: see Delphinium
Laurel: see Prunus
Lily of the valley: see Convallaria
Madagascar periwinkle: see Catharanthus
Marsh marigold: see Caltha
Monkshood: see Aconitum
Morning glory: see Ipomoea
Nightshade, deadly: see Atropa
Nightshade, woody: see Solanum
Oleander: see Nerium
Pernettya: see Gaultheria
Poinsettia: see Euphorbia
Pokeweed: see Phytolacca
Privet: see Ligustrum
Rue: see Ruta
Solomon’s seal: see Polygonatum
Spindle tree: see Euonymus
Spurge: see Euphorbia
Sumach: see Rhus
Thornapple: see Datura
Yew: see Taxus |
Botanical name Aconitum : poisonous; skin irritant
Aesculus : poisonous
Agrostemma githago : poisonous
Alstroemeria : skin irritant
Aquilegia : poisonous
Arum : poisonous; skin and eye irritant
Atropa : poisonous; skin irritant
Brugmansia : poisonous
Caladium : poisonous
Caltha : poisonous; skin and eye irritant
Catharanthus roseus : poisonous
Chrysanthemum : skin irritant
Colchicum : poisonous
Convallaria majalis : poisonous
x Cupressocyparis leylandii: skin irritant
Daphne : poisonous; skin irritant
Datura : poisonous; skin irritant
Delphinium (inc. Consolida ): poisonous
Dictamnus : skin irritant
Dieffenbachia : poisonous; skin and eye irritant
Digitalis : poisonous
Echium : skin irritant
Euonymus : poisonous
Euphorbia : poisonous; skin and eye irritant
NB Poinsettias do not present a serious hazard
Ficus carica : skin and eye irritant
Fremontodendron : skin and eye irritant
Gaultheria : poisonous
Gloriosa superba : poisonous
Hedera : poisonous; skin irritant
Helleborus : poisonous; skin irritant
Heracleum mantegazzianum : severe skin irritant in bright sunlight
Hyacinthus : skin irritant
Hyoscyamus : poisonous
Ipomoea : poisonous
Iris : poisonous; skin irritant
Juniperus sabina : poisonous
Kalmia : poisonous
Laburnum : poisonous
Lantana : poisonous; skin irritant
Ligustrum : poisonous
Lobelia (except bedding lobelia): poisonous; skin and eye irritant
Lupinus : poisonous
Narcissus : poisonous; skin irritant
Nerium oleander : poisonous
Ornithogalum : poisonous; skin irritant
Phytolacca : poisonous; skin irritant
Polygonatum : poisonous
Primula obconica : skin irritant
Prunus laurocerasus : poisonous
Rhamnus (including Frangula ): poisonous; skin irritant
Rhus verniciflua, R. radicans, R. succedanea : poisonous; severe skin irritant
Ricinus communis : poisonous
Ruta : severe skin irritant in bright sunlight
Schefflera : skin irritant
Solandra : poisonous
Solanum (most species): poisonous
Taxus : poisonous
Thuja : poisonous; skin irritant
Tulipa : skin irritant
Veratrum : poisonous
Wisteria : poisonous |
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