Poisonous & Toxic Species
Never touch, taste, or consume any species you cannot positively identify. This guide is for educational purposes only. When in doubt, consult a local expert. Use the iNature app for quick AI-powered identification in the field.
Dog's Mercury
Mercurialis perennis L.
Mercurialis perennis L. (dog's mercury) is a highly poisonous plant with recorded poisonings and some traditional uses when processed.
tree tobacco
Nicotiana glauca Graham
Nicotiana glauca is a poisonous, often invasive woody plant native to South America with various human uses.
Fine-leaved Water-dropwort
Oenanthe aquatica (L.) Poir.
Oenanthe aquatica, or fine-leaved water-dropwort, is a wetland umbellifer herb native to Eurasia.
Hemlock Water-dropwort
Oenanthe crocata L.
Oenanthe crocata (hemlock water-dropwort) is a toxic European perennial wetland plant linked to the ancient 'sardonic grin'.
Java water-dropwort
Oenanthe javanica (Blume) DC.
Oenanthe javanica is an edible perennial herb that is officially invasive in several U.S. states.
Gairdner's Yampah
Perideridia gairdneri (Hook. & Arn.) Mathias
Perideridia gairdneri is a native North American Apiaceae perennial edible root, historically important to many Native American groups.
boldo
Peumus boldus Molina
Peumus boldus Molina (boldo) is a Chilean native plant with edible parts, culinary uses, and debated herbal medicinal safety.
Engelmann spruce
Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.
Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce) is an evergreen mountain tree native to western North America, harvested for timber and wood products.
Mexican Plumeria
Plumeria rubra L.
Plumeria rubra is a deciduous flowering tree/shrub widely cultivated for its fragrant flowers with many traditional uses.
mayapple
Podophyllum peltatum L.
Podophyllum peltatum L. (mayapple) is a poisonous North American woodland plant with edible ripe fruit used in medicine and ornamentals.
kiawe
Prosopis pallida (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Kunth
Prosopis pallida, or kiawe, is a thorny invasive dry-adapted tree with multiple human uses including firewood, food products, and honey production.
Almond
Prunus amygdalus Batsch
Prunus amygdalus Batsch, the almond, is a deciduous tree cultivated for its widely eaten edible drupe seed.
chokecherry
Prunus virginiana L.
Prunus virginiana, or chokecherry, is a North American small tree or shrub with edible ripe fruit, toxic parts, and traditional Indigenous uses.
jetbead
Rhodotypos scandens (Thunb.) Makino
Rhodotypos scandens is an occasionally invasive toxic shrub with unusual opposite leaves and four-petaled white flowers.
Chinese Gugertree
Schima superba Gardner & Champ.
Schima superba is a large evergreen tree from southern China valued for fire prevention, ecology, wood, medicine, landscaping, and potential pesticide development.
European scopolia
Scopolia carniolica Jacq.
Scopolia carniolica is a poisonous nightshade species native to Central and Southeastern Europe, containing toxic tropane alkaloids.
Sierra Madre nightshade
Solanum houstonii Martyn
Solanum houstonii Martyn is a species in the large, diverse flowering plant genus Solanum, the largest genus in the nightshade family.
wolf-apple
Solanum lycocarpum A.St.-Hil.
Solanum lycocarpum, or wolf apple, is a Brazilian shrub/tree with edible fruit used in food and folk medicine.
bugweed
Solanum mauritianum Scop.
Solanum mauritianum Scop., or woolly nightshade, is a shrub to small tree with disputed toxicity and known toxic alkaloids.
black nightshade
Solanum nigrum L.
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) is a variable plant with known toxicity and widespread culinary and medicinal uses.
potato
Solanum tuberosum L.
Solanum tuberosum (potato) is an herbaceous perennial with toxic glycoalkaloids and various non-food uses.
Māmane
Sophora chrysophylla (Salisb.) Seem.
Sophora chrysophylla (māmane) is an endemic Hawaiian flowering tree critical to the endangered palila bird.
Desert Prince's Plume
Stanleya pinnata (Pursh) Britton
Stanleya pinnata is a toxic perennial North American plant that is a Native American traditional food and medicine source.
white twisted-stalk
Streptopus amplexifolius (L.) DC.
Streptopus amplexifolius is a lily-family flowering plant native to North America, Europe, and Asia, with varied historical uses and edible parts that carry risk of toxic misidentification.
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