Poisonous Plant Dangers Around The Home For Babies, Toddlers, and Children

General poisoning notes:

Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) is an ornamental vine that is grown for its beautiful flowers. This plant is restricted to the warmer parts of Canada, such as southern Ontario and Vancouver Island. With care, the vine successfully overwinters in Ottawa, Ont. All parts of the plant are toxic, especially the seeds. Ingesting 1-2 seeds can cause serious poisoning in a child. However, no fatalities have been reported in the literature. Another plant in the same genus, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis (Sims) Sweet), may also be capable of surviving in southern Canada (Anon. 1961, Lampe and McCann 1985).

References:

Anon. 1961. Wisteria. Natl. Clgh. Poison Control Cent., July-Aug: 1-2.

Lampe, K. F., McCann, M. A. 1985. AMA Handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. American Medical Assoc. Chicago, Ill., USA. 432 pp.

Nomenclature:

Scientific Name: Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC.
 

Vernacular name(s): Japanese wisteria

Scientific family name: Leguminosae

Vernacular family name: pea

Go to ITIS*^ca for more taxonomic information on: Wisteria floribunda

References:

Agriculture Quebec. 1975. Noms des maladies des plantes du Canada/ Names of plant diseases in Canada. , Quebec City, Que., Canada. 288 pp.

Alex, J. F., Cayouette, R., Mulligan, G. A. 1980. Common and botanical names of weeds in Canada/Noms populaire et scientifiques des plantes nuisibles du Canada. Revised. Agric. Can. Publ., Ottawa, Ont., Canada. 132 pp.

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Scoggan, H. J. 1978, 1979. The flora of Canada. Nat. Mus. Nat. Sci. (Ottawa) Publ. Bot. 7(1)-7(4). 1711 pp.

Van Wijk, H. L. 1911. A dictionary of plant names. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, The Netherlands. 1444 pp.

Victorin, M. 1964. Flore Laurentienne. 2nd ed. Univ. Montreal, Montreal, Que., Canada. 952 pp.

Geographic Information

Plant or plant parts used in or around the home.

References:

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Boivin, B. 1966, 1967. Énumération des plantes du Canada. Provencheria 6. Nat. Can. (Que.) 93: 253-274; 371-437; 583-646; 989-1063. 94: 131-157; 471-528; 625-655.

Image or illustration

Japanese wisteria:

Images: images.google.com

Notes on Poisonous plant parts:

All parts of the plant, including the flowers, are toxic. The seeds are especially toxic (Lampe and McCann 1985).

Toxic parts:

all parts
flowers
leaves
seeds
 

References:

Lampe, K. F., McCann, M. A. 1985. AMA Handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. American Medical Assoc. Chicago, Ill., USA. 432 pp.

Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:

A glycoside, wistarine, has been found in the plant. It also contains a poisonous lectin (Lampe and McCann 1985).

Toxic plant chemicals:

wistarine
 

References:

Anon. 1961. Wisteria. Natl. Clgh. Poison Control Cent., July-Aug: 1-2.

Lampe, K. F., McCann, M. A. 1985. AMA Handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. American Medical Assoc. Chicago, Ill., USA. 432 pp.

Animals/Human Poisoning:

Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.

Humans

General symptoms of poisoning:

abdominal pains
collapse
dehydration
diarrhea
nausea
vomiting
 

Notes on poisoning:

Humans who ingest wisteria exhibited the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and dehydration. Ingesting 1-2 seeds caused serious poisoning in a young adult. Patients usually recover in 1-2 days. Treatment includes induction of emesis, followed by supportive treatments with antiemetics and fluid replacement (Anon. 1961, Lampe and McCann 1985).

References:

Anon. 1961. Wisteria. Natl. Clgh. Poison Control Cent., July-Aug: 1-2.

Lampe, K. F., McCann, M. A. 1985. AMA Handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. American Medical Assoc. Chicago, Ill., USA. 432 pp.

Information Source: ©Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System, Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility.