Debunking Poinsettia Myth

Debunking Poinsettia Myth

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

The poinsettia plant is native to Mexico and today is widely used in Christmas floral displays. The first United States Ambassador to Mexico, John Poinsett introduce the plant into the United States in 1820. This holiday season, Americans are expected to buy more than 65 million poinsettia plants.
Growing up many of us heard, stay away from that poinsettia, “It is poisonous.” Well, Kansas State University Extension Horticulturist expert Ward Upham debunks this urban myth for all of us once and for all.

Upham: “Poinsettias really aren’t poisonous at all.”

Not to kids, not to pets. So how did the poor poinsettia plant become maligned? Well, Upham says there are some relatives of poinsettia that are poisonous.

Upham: “They contain a toxic substance called diturpinese, but poinsettia does not.”

He shares that there has even been research on how non-toxic the plants are.

Upham: “They looked at how many leaves a subject, for example a 50-pound child would have to ingest in order to cause any discomfort at all.”

The answer? Five to six hundred leaves to get any affect at all -- beyond what affect would be caused by eating 500 leaves of ANY non-poisonous plant. So display your poinsettias without a care as they will present no harm to anyone.?