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Important Poisonous Plants of Australia

By

Cecil F. Brownie

, DVM, PhD, DABVT, DABFE, DABFM, FACFEI, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University

Reviewed/Revised Jul 2015 | Modified Nov 2022
Topic Resources

Plants recorded as definitely or probably toxic to animals in Australia total >1,000. This table includes only those plants with a significant impact. The most comprehensive reference text on poisonous plants in Australia remains Everist SL (1981) Poisonous Plants of Australia. The general points made earlier on poisoning by range plants in North America apply broadly to Australian conditions as well. It is essential, in many cases, to confirm the identity of suspected poisonous plants by having a representative specimen carrying flowers, fruit, or both (or spores in the case of ferns) examined by a professional botanist, who may be consulted at state herbariums in Australian state capital cities. Several of the non-native plants (eg, foxglove, oleander) that are listed in Poisonous Range Plants of Temperate North America Poisonous Range Plants of Temperate North America Poisonous Range Plants of Temperate North America are also found in Australia.

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