Phytotoxicology. I. Major problems associated with poisonous plants.

Abstract

Phytotoxicology (the study of poisoning of man and animals by plants) is an area of medical neglect in both clinical and experimental aspects. Poisonings, for the most part, are poorly investigated, poorly reported, and rarely attract appropriate experimentation. Vernacular or common names for plants are tenuous at best, and their use has led to serious errors in treatment and in medical literature. Frequently the origin of information available to the medical profession in current authoritative publications is of a prior century, or earlier, and derived from experience elsewhere than in North America. These facts often are not obvious. Figures for level of toxicity and statements of symptoms and lesions of such origin often reflect experimental conditions which should invalidate the results, as far as basing responsible present‐day treatments on them. General information from such unspecified sources ignores factors of botanical and human variability with time and place, including ecological, genetic, and nomenclatural variation, variation in human exposure, and variation with horticultural manipulation. Fact and myth are intermingled freely in what the American population believes about poisonous plants. Therefore, what colors any medical history is apt to be vastly different from reality. Induced emesis, catharsis, or gastric lavage are frequently performed when ingested plant material is entirely innocuous and none of these procedures indicated. A plant experimentally established as nontoxic, for example, is among the 10 plants most frequently reported as ingested and believed poisonous by poison control centers. Not all poisonous plants have yet been recognized as such. To establish a list of any set number of “important” poisonous plants is irresponsible on the basis of present knowledge if it results in others being overlooked when poisonings or ingestions are diagnosed.