That Poisonous Poinsettia

Should I worry if my cat Baxter is eating the Poinsettia?  Only if you are obsessive and can see there's a leaf missing on your plant as there's no easy way to fix that given how brittle they are. But isn't the plant poisonous? That white sap looks terrible - it is thick and oozy.  At best it can cause a little irritation. You can expect Baxter to only eat one leaf as the taste is reportedly very unpleasant.  The Poison Control Centre says that a child who weighed 50 pounds would have to eat over 500 poinsettia leaves to reach a potentially toxic dose of compounds in the poinsettia plant.  That's a very determined child. So let's turn to the real list of things to watch. They are lurking in our food and spice cupboards: Nutmeg: considered safe when used as a spice in food.  But in high doses, can cause flushing, dry mouth, rapid heart rate, nausea, vomiting and even hallucinations. Brazil nuts:  these contain selenium and large quantities can be poisonous.  Only eat up to 3 brazil nuts a day. Red Beans:  these have to be cooked in boiling water for over 10 minutes to expel the poisonous part.  Just cooking the beans in water without boiling it can harm you even more. Apricot, plum and cherry pits (apple too):  yes when you get a cherry pit in the pie, put it aside, as it contains poison from the cyanide family. Potatoes: those pesky green spots contain poisonous solanine that does not wear off with cooking or baking.  Don't take off the green parts, get rid of the potato. And for your dogs, look at this list: ground cinnamon onion powder dill seed ground sage mint garlic So we conclude with a look at the Niagara Falls Showcase Greenhouse display.