How do I know whether a plant is safe or toxic?

I’ve long been frustrated that there are so many lists out there of safe and toxic plants, but nearly all of them don’t cite ANY references. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. On top of that, many of them disagree with each other and offer black-and-white answers when it is sometimes more nuanced.

The good news is I found several sites that collectively form the largest and most thoroughly researched list of safe and toxic plants in these categories:

• Table Food

• Vegetables

• Fruit

• Houseplants

• Flowers

• Grass

• Wood

• Herbs

• Nuts

• Sprouted food

• Weeds

The vast majority of the credit goes to this site which covers over 1,000 plants and cites over 50 sources:

• Yellow Rock Online – Cockatiel Nutrition, Health, Wellbeing & First Aid

For wood (perches), the credit goes to these two sites:

• The Wood Database—Wood Allergies and Toxicity

• Mario D Vaden—Bird perches, toys. Safe and harmful perch wood

To make it easier to find different types of plants from different sites, I put all their information into one giant table that can be easily searched and sorted.

I’ve created a separate page for the table so that it can easily be referred to:

Ultimate list of 1,400+ bird-safe and toxic plants

References

Here is an exhaustive list of the sources for all of the data on bird-safe plants.

Yellow Rock Online – Cockatiel Nutrition, Health, Wellbeing & First Aid

1. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine: Pets and Toxic Plants

2. Cornell University: Plants Poisonous to Livestock and other Animals

3. University of Illinois: Plants Toxic to Animals

4. The Humane Society: Plants Potentially Poisonous to Pets

5. The ASPCA: Toxic and Nontoxic Plants for Animals

6. VCA Hospitals: Plants That are Safe for Birds

7. Wiley Online Library: Plants not Reported to be Toxic

8. Colorado State University: Guide to Poisonous Plants

9. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation: The palatability, and potential toxicity of Australian weeds to goats

10. Wikipedia

11. Mike Owen (cites research) – The Apple Seed Cyanide Myth

12. Profitable & Sustainable Primary Industries – Prussic acid poisoning in livestock

13. Profitable & Sustainable Primary Industries – Garden plants poisonous to people

14. University of Leeds – Amygdalin content of seeds, kernels and food products

15. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service – Prussic Acid Poisoning Forage Facts

16. Food Chemistry – Total cyanide determination of plants and foods using the picrate and acid hydrolysis methods

17. Julia F Morton (cites research) – Fruits of Warm Climates

18. Nordic Co-operation – Cucurbitacins in plant food

19. USDA Agricultural Research Service – Poisonous Plant Research

20. Lafeber Company – Foods Toxic to Pet Birds

21. NutritionData – Serachable food database

22. Medical News Today – The health benefits of bok choy

23. Nutrition And You.com – Okra nutrition facts

24. Botanical-online – Medicinal plants searchable database

25. Passionflow – Passiflora toxicity

26. Parrot Talk – St John’s Wort and the use of Hypericin

27. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry – Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon): A Critical Review of Its Traditional Use, Chemical Composition, Pharmacology, and Safety

28. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements – Valerian

29. International Journal of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics – Nutritional and Medicinal Properties of Valerian (Valeriana Officinalis) Herb: A Review

30. Edible Wild Food – Creeping Charlie

31. European Medicines Agency – Assessment report on Levisticum officinale Koch, radix

32. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine – Organic parasite control for poultry and rabbits in British Columbia, Canada

33. National Library of Medicine – Polyphenol extracts from Punica granatum and Terminalia chebula are anti-inflammatory and increase the survival rate of chickens challenged with Escherichia coli

34. Birds Online – Plant database

35. BioMed Research International – Underestimating the Toxicological Challenges Associated with the Use of Herbal Medicinal Products in Developing Countries

36. New South Wales, Department of Primary Industries – St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)

37. Myfitnesspal – Searchable database

38. WebMD, Vitamins & Supplements Center – Searchable database

39. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects – Evaluation of the Nutritional and Metabolic Effects of Aloe vera

40. PoultryDVM – Ashwagandha

41. National Library of Medicine – Chronic toxicity evaluation of Morinda citrifolia fruit and leaf in mice

42. Food and Agricultural Immunology – Effects of short-term consumption of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) fruit juice on mice intestine, liver and kidney immune modulation

43. Oxford Clinical Kidney Journal – Star fruit: simultaneous neurotoxic and nephrotoxic effects in people with previously normal renal function

44. Journal of Food Science Chemistry – Reduction of phytic acid in major cereals, legumes, oilseeds and nuts

45. FoodSafety.gov (official site of the US Government) – Food safety by type of food

46. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society – Control and removal of aflatoxin

47. New St. John’s – What are aflatoxins?

48. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information – Prevalence of Salmonella in Cashews, Hazelnuts, Macadamia Nuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts, and Walnuts in the United States

49. New St. John’s – What is salmonella?

50. Agronomy Group, Institute of Natural Resources, New Zealand – Pasture Plant Identification

51. Pastures Australia – Comprehensive plant list

52. Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology – Trisetum flavescens

53. DSM Dutch State Mines (DSM) – Vitamin D

The Wood Database—Wood Allergies and Toxicity

1. Unknown author – Woods Toxic to Man (out of print book)

2. British Journal of Dermatology – Toxic Woods

3. Internation Labor Organization – Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety

4. American Medical Association – Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants

5. Micromedex – Poisondex (now behind paywall)

6. Roy Banner – List of woods and toxicity characteristics

7. Health and Safety Executive, UK – Toxic Woods Information Sheet

8. Bruce Campbell – Wood/Dust Toxicity

9. Neil Ellis – Health Hazards & Wood

10. John Mitchell and Arthur Rook – Botanical Dermatology

11. Bill Pentz – Medical Risks

12. Woodturners Society of Queensland, Inc – Timbers & Health

13. USDA Forest Products Laboratory – Tropical Timbers of the World

14. USDA Forest Products Laboratory – Properties of Imported Tropical Woods

15. Michael Sims and Erica Skadsen, Wood Hazards

Mario D Vaden—Bird perches, toys. Safe and harmful perch wood

1. Gillian Willis – pharmacist and toxicologist

2. Mario D Vaden – Certified Arborist

3. James A Duke – Handbook of Energy Crops

4. Wikipedia

5. John Mitchell and Arthur Rook – Botanical Dermatology

6. VCA Hospitals: Plants That are Safe for Birds

7. Avian Medicine – Clinical Avian Medicine and Surgery