FAT BULBS AND FATTER HEADS

Amaryllis and Hippeastrum are those bulbs that look like very large onions. They get potted up to half their depth in a heavy pot that is scarcely large enough.    The bigger the bulb the better the winter display of strapped- shaped leaves and glorious large flowers in the brightest of colours.
 They most certainly should not be labelled as poisonous. If you believe that they need a warning of some kind, then I think NOT A FOOD ITEM  should suffice. Just don't take loose bulbs home in a grocery bag with the store name on it and later suppose that they are spanish onions.

     Angel's Trumpet gets its name from the huge bell-shaped pendulous flowers that may be white or flushed with pink or yellow. The plant itself grows to a height of over two metres and will need precautionary staking. To my taste it is a spectacular novelty to amuse friends and entertain the neighbourhood.The currently accepted name is Brugmansia suaveolens having previously been Datura suaveolens related to Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium and contains the same toxic alkaloids.
 Despite this fact I find it hard to believe that harm would come to anyone from Angel's Trumpet. Unless it is done intentionally.  We will however return to the subject when, in due course , we discuss the perils of Jimson Weed.

      Arrowhead Vine, Syngonium podophyllum is related and similar to Dieffenbachia and Philodendron but also to Caladium, Calla, Colocasia (Taro) and Zantedeschia all in the Acaceae family. They contain needle-sharp crystals of calcium oxylate termed rhaphides. If you bite into these plants, they bite back. We are going to meet many examples of plants with sharp raphides as we explore this list; none of them are 'poisonous' under any meaning of the word.
 It is  surprising, given the vastness of the English language, that we depend so much on "Poisonous".  We have overburdened the word and asked it to do too much. It does not tell you whether any particular so-called poisonous plant is going to give you an upset tummy, a skin rash or kill you.