Are Christmas Poinsettias Poisonous?

Poinsettias are a very popular holiday plant in the United States, especially around Christmas. In fact, poinsettias are responsible for over 85 percent of holiday potted plant sales. $220 million worth are sold each year in the United States holiday season. Poinsettias even have a national holiday: December 12 is National Poinsettia Day. Poinsettias have long been thought to be poisonous, but are these festive Christmas plants actually poisonous?

First, here's some of the history of poinsettias and some more fun facts about poinsettias!

Poinsettias are actually native to Mexico, although they are very popular in America, and poinsettias were first brought into the United States in 1825 by Joel Poinsett. Now, poinsettias are grown in all 50 states commercially, though California produces the most poinsettias each year. Actually, the Paul Ecke Ranch, located in California, grows more than 80 percent of the wholesale market poinsettias each year.

In natural conditions, the perennial poinsettia flowering shrubs can reach heights of ten feet tall! Interestingly, the colorful parts of poinsettias are not flowers, like many believe, but colored bracts, also known as modified leaves! In the center of these colored bracts is where the flowers actually are.

Now, are poinsettias actually poisonous plants?

These red, white, and pink holiday plants have long been rumored to be poisonous, but is there any truth in that?

First off, this rumor seemingly began when a two-year-old child died in 1919, and the death was believed to have been caused by the consumption of the leaves of a poinsettia plant. However, the American Society of Florists said there was never any proof that the child died from ingesting the poinsettia, and later that report was concluded as hearsay.

The American Society of Florists has said that the poinsettia plant has actually been tested for toxicity more so than any other plant, and the American Society of Florists did a lot of research to make sure that poinsettias really are not poisonous. They joined with Ohio State University researchers and tested different parts of poinsettia plants on rats. They, then, determined that rats given quite large doses of the parts of poinsettia plants had no side effects and that the poinsettia plants were not toxic.

There was a study released in 2000 by the Carnegie Mellon University and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh about the toxicity or poinsettias. In the study, it was found that there was virtually no significant amount of toxicity of any kind in the over 22,000 exposures to poinsettias reported to all poison control centers throughout the United States. Also, the American Veterinary Medicine Association of America (AVMA), has not included poinsettias on their list of plants that could be dangerous or poisonous to animals.

So, in conclusion, poinsettias are not poisonous! However, they still aren't meant for ingestion, of course.

Another plant often thought to be poisonous is mistletoe. Find out if mistletoe is actually poisonous here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2349390/is_mistletoe_poisonous.html?cat=32

Sources:
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/facts.cfm
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/poinsettias.htm