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Poisonous Plant Books
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POISONOUS PLANT REFERENCE BOOKS
General
Burrows, G. E.; Tyrl, R. J. 2001. Toxic plants of North America. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames, Iowa. 1342 pages.
Massive and very useful guide to poisonous plants of North America; clearly written and with good coverage of chemistry as well as symptons and cases.
Bruneton, J. 1999. Toxic plants dangerous to humans and animals. Lavoisier, Paris. 545pp.
An important new reference book (translated from French), offering complementary coverage to Cooper and Johnson (below), but with wider coverage of plants exotic to Britain. Black and white drawings of selected species.
Cooper, M.R., & Johnson, A.W. 1998. Poisonous Plants and Fungi in Britain: Animal and Human Poisoning. The Stationery Office, London. 398pp.
The definitive guide to poisonous plants and fungi in the UK. Bold, clear, precise, and very reader-friendly. Contains a brief section on poisonous principles and their physiological effects. Details for individual species or genera can include poisonous principles, human poisoning, animal poisoning, and treatment. The veterinary coverage with an emphasis on farm animals is excellent. Over one hundred species are illustrated by colour plates. A glossary is provided, as well as an extensive bibliography.
Cooper, M.R., & Johnson, A.W., 2003. Poisonous Plants and Fungi: An Illustrated Guide. Second Edition. TSO, London. 185pp.
This is a smaller softback version of the previous edition of the above book, which summarises the veterinary and medical information supplied in the former, making it more accessible to the lay reader. Despite this simplification, more plants are covered in this work, including those of low or doubtful toxicity as well as those less commonly encountered in the UK. For each plant species information is given on poisonous constituents, their effects and an indication of when professional advice should be sought. Over 100 colour plates are provided, portraying all the main plants covered in the book. Available from kewbooks.com
Dauncey, E.A. (ed). 2000. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain and Ireland. Interactive identification systems on CD-ROM. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens.
A CD-ROM (for Windows computers) offering an interactive identification facility for poisonous plants and fungi, and detailed information (comparable to that in Cooper and Johnson) on toxicity and case-reports. Very well illustrated with colour photographs, and covering 229 plant species and 125 fungi, including those that might be eaten by a child but are in fact not toxic. Available for £39.95 direct from kewbooks.com
A separate German-language version is available for Central Europe.Lang, D.C., 1987. The Complete Book of British Berries. Threshold Books, London. 223pp.
Accessible and clearly written, this is a non-technical guide to poisonous and non-poisonous British berries. It contains numerous colour plates, and describes the fruits, leaves and flowers in detail as well as providing brief information on ecology, distribution, history, uses, toxicology, symptoms and treatment. This book is still to be found in remainder bookshops.
Royal Horticultural Society. 1998. Conservation and environment guidelines: potentially harmful garden plants. Wisley: Science Department, RHS. 4p.
A useful leaflet, available free online at: http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/
Spoerke, D.G., & Smolinske, S.C., 1990. Toxicity of Houseplants. CRC Press Inc, Florida. 244pp.
The first part of this book discusses major groups of plant toxins, the specific genera that contain them, the potential routes/mechanisms of injury, and possible medical treatment. This is followed by brief, clearly formatted monographs on the most common species of toxic houseplants including information on nomenclature, toxic principles, symptoms, risk assessment and case-studies. Unfortunately, for advice on treatment one must refer back to earlier sections of the book. Although primarily a technical publication, there is much on risk assessment and manifestations of poisoning that will be of value to the lay reader. Plates provided are black and white and often not very clear.
Further information
Requests for information on poisonous plants may be sent (in writing only) to the Centre for Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey. Email: ceb-enq@kew.org Fax: 020 8332 3717. Urgent enquiries only can be made by telephone to 020 8332 5000. The Royal Horticultural Society maintains a comprehensive enquiry service for its members, at The Science Department, The Royal Horticultural Society's Garden, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. Email: advisory@rhs.org.uk
Updated 7 May 2004, Centre for Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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