Australian umbrella tree
General poisoning notes:
Australian umbrella tree (Brassaia actinophylla) is an ornamental shrub grown indoors in Canada. This plant caused toxic symptoms in a dog after it ingested the leaves. Experimental work on rats caused death after they ingested 3.2 g of leaf tissue over 7 days. Symptoms in the rats included extramedullary hematopoiesis in the spleen, with black tarry gastrointestinal content caused by blood (Quam et al. 1985).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Brassaia actinophylla Endl.
Vernacular name(s): Australian umbrella tree
Scientific family name: Araliaceae
Vernacular family name: aralia
Brassaia actinophylla Endl.
Geographic Information
Plant or plant parts used in or around the home.
Toxic parts:
Leaves
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
Chemical analysis (Quam et al. 1985) revealed that leaves contain oxalates and saponins as well as some cardiac glycosides and alkaloids.
Toxic plant chemicals:
Oxalate
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.
Dogs
General symptoms of poisoning:
Anorexia, ataxia, vomiting
Notes on poisoning:
A poodle that ingested Australian umbrella tree leaves suffered from vomiting, leucopenia, anorexia, and ataxia. The leaves were found to contain 0.9%-1.5% oxalate crystals by weight (Spoerke and Smolinske 1990).
Humans
General symptoms of poisoning:
Erythema
Rodents
General symptoms of poisoning:
Death, hemorrhage.
