Top 10 Poisonous Plants of New Zealand

What are New Zealand's top poisonous plants?Some of the most toxic, and most common poisonous plants in New Zealand

Plant Calls:
From 1998 to 2002, plant poisoning enquiries made up 9.6% of total calls.

Plant calls were the third most frequent exposure enquiry (following therapeutic and household agent exposures)

62% of plant calls were due to child exposures.

Top poisonous plants were determined based on:
Plants that are consistently involved in unintentional poisonings
Plants result in the manifestation of symptoms
The following were assessed and quantified:

  • Toxicity of plant
  • Number of calls received
  • Age of patient
  • Symptoms presenting


Top 10 Plants

  • Arum Lily
  • Black Nightshade
  • Euphorbia
  • Iris
  • Oleander
  • Agapanthus
  • Ongaonga (New Zealand Tree Nettle)
  • Hemlock
  • Foxglove
  • Rhus