Japanese wisteria
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).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Wisteria floribunda (Willd.)
DC.
Vernacular
name(s): Japanese wisteria
Scientific family
name: Leguminosae
Vernacular family
name: pea
Geographic Information
Plant or plant
parts used in or around the home.
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.
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
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).
0 Comment:
Post a Comment