Poinsettia Phobia: Poisonious or Not?
The legend of the poisonous poinsettia was born in 1919 when a two-year-old child of an Army officer stationed in Hawaii died. The cause was incorrectly assumed to be because of eating a poinsettia leaf and the story has since taken on a life of its own.
Despite the fact that 30 years ago scientists proved that the poinsettia plant was not deadly, the urban legend persists. Some surveys find that half of all Americans mistakenly believe that the holiday plant favorite is poisonous to both their children and pets.
“I might be asked a couple times each year about the poinsettias being poisonous,” says Frank McGeorge, M.D., Beaumont Hospital emergency physician. “I wouldn’t suggest eating them because they aren’t grown for consumption, but it wouldn’t kill a person if he did.”
Dr. McGeorge says that the American Medical Association’s Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants suggests poinsettia plant ingestion could cause vomiting or stomach discomfort and cramps. However, no case of death by poinsettia plant poisoning has ever been recorded.
While many species in the plant genus Euphorbia are highly toxic, the poinsettia is not among them. Dr. McGeorge says a general rule to follow is not putting a poinsettia (or any other house plant) where infants, toddlers or even pets can reach them. He says parents should teach children not to eat or put house plants in their mouth at an early age. This lesson may help avoid a trip to the emergency room down the road.
(Dr. Frank McGeorge is an Emergency Department physician at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.)