PAWS Pet Poison Reference Library

Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants for Pets

PAWS was built to be one of the most detailed plant-safety references for pet owners, veterinarians, rescues, boarding facilities, and animal-care professionals. Browse 359 in-depth plant-safety guides for dogs, cats, horses, livestock, rabbits, birds, reptiles, and other animals. Each guide is built as a practical pet-poison reference, with plant identification, scientific names, toxic compounds, poisoning symptoms, first aid, veterinary treatment, prognosis, prevention, and research citations.

Mountain Laurel or Kalmia latifolia, a dense broadleaf evergreen shrub with glossy leathery oval leaves and rounded spring flower clusters containing white to pink bowl-shaped flowers marked with darker dots and ten small pockets holding the curved stamens.

Mountain Laurel

Kalmia latifolia L.
Ericaceae — Heath or Heather Family
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Myrtle Holly or Ilex myrtifolia, an evergreen wetland shrub or small tree with slender gray branches, narrow smooth-edged lance-shaped leaves, small greenish-white flowers, and clusters of small red or occasionally yellow holly fruits.

Myrtle Holly

Ilex myrtifolia Walter
Aquifoliaceae — Holly Family
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Cluster of pink trumpet-shaped Naked Lady flowers on tall leafless stalks emerging from the ground

Naked Lady

Amaryllis belladonna L.
Amaryllidaceae
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Nandina or Nandina domestica growing as an upright multi-stemmed woody landscape shrub with slender cane-like stems, large lacy compound leaves divided into many smooth-edged leaflets, and terminal clusters of green or bright red round fruit.

Nandina

Nandina domestica Thunb.
Berberidaceae — Barberry Family
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Cluster of yellow Narcissus or daffodil flowers with trumpet-shaped central coronas and long narrow green leaves growing in a spring garden

Narcissus

Narcissus L. — genus-level page
Amaryllidaceae — Amaryllis Family
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Narrowleaf Goosefoot (Chenopodium leptophyllum), a slender gray-green annual with upright branched stems, narrow linear mealy leaves, and small green flower clusters in terminal and leaf-axil panicles

Narrowleaf Goosefoot

Chenopodium leptophyllum (Moq.) Nutt. ex S.Watson
Amaranthaceae — Amaranth or Pigweed Family
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Needlepoint English Ivy with trailing green vines and small dark-green leaves divided into narrow sharply pointed lobes

Needlepoint Ivy

Hedera helix L. ‘Needlepoint’
Araliaceae — Ivy or Ginseng Family
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Nephthytis or Arrowhead Vine (Syngonium podophyllum), a tropical climbing houseplant with green arrowhead-shaped juvenile leaves, distinct basal lobes, slender trailing stems, and aerial roots growing from the stem nodes

Nephthytis

Syngonium podophyllum Schott
Araceae — Arum or Aroid Family
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Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), a tall branching shrub with smooth blue-green oval leaves and clusters of long yellow tubular flowers

Nicotiana

Nicotiana glauca Graham
Solanaceae — Nightshade or Potato Family
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Representative wild Solanum nightshade plant with green leaves, star-shaped purple flowers with yellow anthers, and clusters of berries at green and ripe stages

Nightshade

Solanum spp.
Solanaceae — Nightshade or Potato Family
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Potted Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) with a straight trunk, evenly spaced tiers of horizontal branches, and soft green needle-like juvenile leaves

Norfolk Island Pine

Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco
Araucariaceae — Araucaria Family
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Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla) with a straight central stem, evenly spaced tiers of horizontal branches, and soft bright-green awl-shaped juvenile leaves.

Norfolk Island Pine

Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco
Araucariaceae — Araucaria Family
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Oak-Leaved Goosefoot (Oxybasis glauca), a low branching annual with blue-green shallowly lobed leaves, densely white-mealy leaf undersides, red-striped stems, and small green flower clusters.

Oak-Leaved Goosefoot

Oxybasis glauca (L.) S.Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch
Amaranthaceae — Amaranth or Pigweed Family
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Octopus Tree or Heptapleurum actinophyllum with large glossy palmately compound leaves radiating like umbrella spokes and long red flower spikes extending above the foliage.

Octopus Tree

Heptapleurum actinophyllum (Endl.) Lowry & G.M.Plunkett
Araliaceae — Ivy, Ginseng, or Aralia Family
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Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) showing opposite palmately compound leaves and a rough green capsule split open to reveal a large glossy brown seed with a pale eye-like scar.

Ohio Buckeye

Aesculus glabra Willd.
Sapindaceae — Soapberry Family;
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Oilcloth Flower or Flamingo Flower (Anthurium scherzerianum) with glossy narrow green leaves, a bright red-orange spathe, and a curled corkscrew-shaped spadix

Oilcloth Flower

Anthurium scherzerianum Schott
Araceae — Arum or Aroid Family
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Oleander shrub with narrow leathery dark-green leaves arranged in pairs or whorls and terminal clusters of five-petaled pink flowers.

Oleander

Nerium oleander L.
Apocynaceae — Dogbane Family
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Common Onion plant with a rounded layered bulb covered by papery skin, hollow blue-green leaves, and a spherical cluster of small white flowers

Onion

Allium cepa L.
Amaryllidaceae — Amaryllis Family
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Orange Day Lily (Hemerocallis fulva) growing in a dense roadside clump with long arching strap-shaped leaves and tall leafless stalks bearing tawny-orange trumpet-shaped flowers

Orange Day Lily

Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L.
Asphodelaceae — Asphodel Family;
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Oregon Holly, the alternate name used here for American Holly (Ilex opaca), with dull dark-green spiny evergreen leaves and clusters of bright red fruit

Oregon Holly

Ilex opaca Aiton
Aquifoliaceae — Holly Family
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Ornamental Pepper (Solanum pseudocapsicum L.) shown for identification in the PAWS pet plant safety guide.

Ornamental Pepper

Solanum pseudocapsicum L.
Solanaceae — Nightshade Family
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Painter’s Pallette (Anthurium scherzerianum) with narrow leathery green leaves, a broad scarlet spathe, and a distinctive curled orange-red pigtail spadix.

Painter's Pallette

Anthurium scherzerianum Schott
Araceae — Arum or Aroid Family
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Pale Laurel or Bog Laurel (Kalmia polifolia), a low evergreen bog shrub with opposite narrow leathery blue-green leaves and terminal clusters of bright pink cup-shaped flowers

Pale Laurel

Kalmia polifolia Wangenh.
Ericaceae
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Wild Calla or Palestine arum (Arum palaestinum) with broad dark green arrow-shaped leaves and a deep purple-black finger-like spadix surrounded by a dark reddish-purple hooded spathe, distinguishing it from the white-flowered wetland plant Calla palustris.

Palestine Arum

Arum palaestinum Boiss.
Araceae
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