Just how poisonous are poinsettias? My mother lives in a nursing home, and the director just confiscated nearly 200 potted plants that were donated to residents for the holidays. I think he overreacted. Do you agree?
I agree with you. It is a fact that poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are in the Euphorbiaceae family, and the sap of plants in this family is irritating to the skin and eyes. However, it seems highly unlikely that people would be exposed to the sap of these plants, and it would take eating large quantities of leaves to become seriously ill. It’s not a good idea to eat the leaves of most indoor plants, in any case.
There is information about the degree to which poinsettias are poisonous on the following sites:
It’s possible the director of the nursing home was alarmed by a recent news story about a local woman who went to the emergency room after weeding in her garden and getting Euphorbia sap in her eye. There is a big difference between stationary houseplants which one mainly looks at without touching, and the aggressive and weedy Euphorbia species one pulls from the garden (only with gloves and goggles)!