cyanosis – Forage Me Not

Cherry laurel

Published November 8, 2015

Cherry laurel

Common name: Cherry laurel

Scientific name: Prunus laurocerasus

Hazard associated: Leaves, fruit and seed are toxic if ingested.

Notes:

Children may be attracted to the berries which change from green to red to black.
Used for landscaping purposes e.g. hedges, street trees as it is a hardy, attractive plant
May become an invasive weed in parts of Australia.
Leaves are sometimes mistaken for Bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) which has led to cases of poisoning.
The leaves and seeds contain cyanogenic glycoside and amygdalin hence having the “typical almond smell” of cyanide when macerated. It is even dangerous to shred clippings from this plant.

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_laurocerasus

Image credits:

“Prunus laurocerasus fruit detail – geograph.org.uk – 567699” by Evelyn Simak. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prunus_laurocerasus_fruit_detail_-_geograph.org.uk_-_567699.jpg#/media/File:Prunus_laurocerasus_fruit_detail_-_geograph.org.uk_-_567699.jpg

Coral tree

Published October 16, 2015

Coral tree

Common name: Coral tree, Bat’s Wing Coral tree

Scientific name: Erythrina vespertilio, Erythrina x sykesii, other Erythrina spp.

Hazard associated: Leaves, bark and seeds are toxic if ingested.

Notes:

Children may be attracted to the bean shaped seeds.
These plants are grown in gardens for their attractive flowers.
Erythrina contains more than 100 species which display differential toxicity.

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrina

Image credits:

The information provided by this web site is offered in good faith, but please note that the author accepts no responsibility for its complete accuracy. Nor does the author accept any responsibility for any use that you make of this information or any consequences arising from the use of this material. Failure to mention a plant on this web site does not mean it is safe to use, eat or touch. Almost any plant can be injurious under some circumstances e.g. life stage of the plant, part eaten, amount consumed, whether cooked or raw. Any given plant can have different effects on different people as determined by age, genetic makeup, general health and many other factors.

Why use scientific names when they are hard to pronounce and/or hard to spell? What is wrong with common names? Well your common name for a plant is not necessarily the same as the next person's. Mountain Ash is a eucalypt in Australia but a rowan tree in Europe; the name lily is commonly used for many unrelated plants some of which are extremely toxic. Same thing with the common name nightshade.

Scientific names are the same worldwide, no matter what the local language(s) and also they indicate the grouping of species into genera which shows relationships.