Toxic plants for pets can cause heartbreak. We all love our pets and when you are a plant lover as well, you want to make sure that your houseplants and your pets can live together happily. Knowing what toxic houseplants you have in your home or being able to identify poison plants is important to keeping your pet happy and healthy.

Identify Poison Plants

With so many houseplants available today, it is hard to know which are poisonous houseplants. While there is no tell-tale sign that a plant is poisonous, there are a few standard signs that can help you identify potentially toxic plants. These signs for possible poison plants are:

• Milky sap
• Naturally shiny leaves
• Plants that have yellow or white berries
• Umbrella shaped plants

While following this list will not eliminate all toxic houseplants, it will help steer you clear of a great many of them.

Common Poison Houseplants

 

Below are some of the most common houseplants that are toxic:

• Amaryllis
• Balsam fir
• Calla lily
• Caladium
• Century plant
• Chinaberry
• Coffee tree (Polyscias guilfoylei)
• Dracaena
• Dumb cane
• Elephant’s ear
• Ficus or weeping fig
• Plumeria
• Ivy (all kinds)
• Lily
• Philodendron
• Rubber plant
• Snake plant
• String of beads
• Umbrella plant

Common Non-Toxic Houseplants

There are also many non-toxic plants for pets. These include:

• African Violet
• Boston fern
• Cast iron plant
• China Doll
• Christmas Cactus
• Coleus
• Orchids
• Pink polka-dot plant
• Prayer Plant
• Spider plant
• Ti plant
• Yucca

If you are a pet owner, you know that keeping your house free of poison houseplants is important. Learning to identify poison plants and buying only non-toxic houseplants will keep your pet happy and healthy.