Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Poisonous plants and mulch for animals

June 6, 2009

Adding mulch around the base of your plants has many benefits. Mulch helps to conserve water, suppress weeds and moderate the soil temperatures. There is a new mulch on the market called Cocoa mulch that will provide the same benefits but there needs to be a note of caution to go along with it. If you own a dog or cat, especially one that loves to chew or eats all sorts of things then you may not want to use this mulch where your pet can get to it.

Many dog owners are aware that chocolate is toxic to dogs and the same ingredients in chocolate, theobromine and caffine, are also present in the cocoa husks that are shredded up into mulch. I have read that when this mulch is first spread it gives off the aroma of chocolate (which I personally thinks sounds wonderful) but this aroma could attract dogs and cats to eat it. Now, with any toxin, the amount that needs to be consumed to cause harm or death will depend upon the weight of the animal. So, owners of small pets really need to watch them closely around this mulch. We called around to see if Cocoa mulch is available locally and we didn’t find anyone selling it at this time.

Now, there could also be plants in your landscape that could kill your pet (and humans too) if they eat enough. The good news is that with a little knowledge no pets (or their concerned owners) need to suffer from poisonous plants. Below is a list of some of the common poisonous plants that we either plant in our landscapes as ornamentals or that the birds bring to our yards as volunteers, commonly called weeds.

  • Castor bean (Ricinus communis)- weed, eating the seeds can cause death.
  • Coontie (Zamia floridana) - native ornamental, eating the seeds can cause death for dogs too! Because this plant is so low growing and the seeds are at ground level, and brightly colored, they pose a special hazard because both young children and small pets (like miniature dachshunds ) can get to the seeds.
  • Fairy ring (Chlorophyllum molybdites) - mushroom in the lawn- #1 cause of mushroom poisoning deaths in both the state of Florida and the U.S.
  • King sago (Cycas revoluta) - ornamental, all parts of the plants are toxic, but especially the seeds. Two seeds are enough to kill a dog as well as the ingestion of any of the plant parts.
  • Lantana (Lantana camara) - invasive shrub, all parts are poisonous but especially the leaves and green berries. This plant can be fatal to children and also to both horses and dogs.
  • Oleander (Nerium oleander) - ornamental, all parts are poisonous – even the smoke!
  • Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) – weed, all parts are poisonous but especially the berries and roots. Ingestion can cause vomiting, spasms, severe convulsions which can result in death.
  • Queen sago (Cycas circinalis) - ornamental, all parts of the plant but especially the seeds.
  • Rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) – woody vine- weed, the seeds are extremely poisonous if the seed coat is crushed or broken. Can cause death to both children and adults.
  • Easter lily (Lilium longiforum), Gloriosa lily (Gloriosa superb) and Daylily (Hemerocallis spp.). All plant parts are toxic for cats but especially the leaves!
  • Dracaena (Dracaena marginata ‘Tricolor’) Chewing on the bark is believed to have killed two small dogs!!

If you would like more information on the plants listed above you can go to www.Google.com and enter the scientific name, which is in parentheses and then click on the search button. If you would like to see pictures of the plants go to Google and click on Images above the search window. Next, type in the scientific name in the search window and then click on the search button. That search will give you photos of the plant.

If you ever discover that your dog or cat has ingested a poisonous plant, immediately induce vomiting by giving them hydrogen peroxide. If the dog is large you can pour some in a cup and then pour it down their throat. If it is a small animal then fill a syringe with the hydrogen peroxide and get it down their throat. I often wonder how many pets die from poisoning and their owner had no idea that that was the cause or what it was they ate. The only way to never lose a pet this way is to make sure that you have no poisonous plants in your yard (that is the easier part) and to only let your pet out when you are watching them and that is the hard part!