Japanese wisteria
General poisoning notes:
Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) is an ornamental vine that is grown for its beautiful flowers. This plant is restricted to the warmer parts of Canada, such as southern Ontario and Vancouver Island. With care, the vine successfully overwinters in Ottawa, Ont. All parts of the plant are toxic, especially the seeds. Ingesting 1-2 seeds can cause serious poisoning in a child. However, no fatalities have been reported in the literature. Another plant in the same genus, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis (Sims) Sweet), may also be capable of surviving in southern Canada (Anon. 1961, Lampe and McCann 1985).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC.
Vernacular name(s): Japanese wisteria
Scientific family name: Leguminosae
Vernacular family name: pea
Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC.
Geographic Information
Plant or plant parts used in or around the home.
Notes on Poisonous plant parts:
All parts of the plant, including the flowers, are toxic. The seeds are especially toxic (Lampe and McCann 1985).
Toxic parts:
All parts, flowers, leaves, seeds.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
A glycoside, wistarine, has been found in the plant. It also contains a poisonous lectin (Lampe and McCann 1985).
Toxic plant chemicals:
wistarine
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.
Humans
General symptoms of poisoning:
Abdominal pains, collapse, dehydration, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting.
Notes on poisoning:
Humans who ingest wisteria exhibited the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and dehydration. Ingesting 1-2 seeds caused serious poisoning in a young adult. Patients usually recover in 1-2 days. Treatment includes induction of emesis, followed by supportive treatments with antiemetics and fluid replacement (Anon. 1961, Lampe and McCann 1985).
