Category: poisonous flowers

  • Delphinium

    The PlantThese striking flowers are members of the super-toxic family Ranunculaceae, which also includes hellebores, columbines and aconites. There are hundreds of species in the Delphinium genus and most cultivars and hybrids come from Delphinium elatum or D. grandiflora. They’re related to larkspur, the Consolida genus, and look very similar — and confusingly some people…

  • Oleander

    The PlantNerium oleander — commonly known as oleander or sometimes just nerium — is a flowering shrub that’s widely used in landscaping. It belongs to a family of plants called Apocynaceae, or “dog bane,” which should tell you all you need to know: Anything with “bane” in the name is likely to be poisonous. What…

  • Digitalis

    The PlantDigitalis is a genus of 20 flowering plants including the best known, Digitalis purpurea. The name “digitalis” is from the Latin word for “finger” because the tube-like flowers are sort of fingerlike (if you squint a lot or if you have really fat fingers). They’re sometimes called witch’s gloves, dead man’s bells or foxgloves…

  • Bittersweet Nightshade

    The PlantSolanum dulcamara, also known as bittersweet nightshade or poisonberry, and its cousin Solanum nigrum, aka black nightshade, are in the same family as Atropa belladonna, better known as deadly nightshade. As you can probably guess from the names, they’re not good for you. What It Looks LikeA sprawling vine or woody shrub with slender,…