Monthly Archives: December 2016

holiday plants, holiday plants and pets, holiday plants and small children, toxic plants

Are Common Holiday Plants Safe?

Throughout the year we enjoy many types of plants inside the house but during the winter as we spend more time inside we appreciate them even more. With the holidays season upon us I like to enjoy some colorful plants on my tabletop and window sill. How safe are holiday plants for pets and small children?

Poinsettia colors

I have a beautiful poinsettia on the table and soon I?ll be getting other holiday plants such as cyclamen, paperwhite narcissus, maybe a pink jasmine wreath or one with holly, ivy and evergreens. I also like those rosemary topiaries that are trained in the shape of a Christmas tree and have already started one of those huge showy amaryllis bulbs. Christmas cactus grow in several locations. Which plants do I need to watch out for?

The classic plant to decorate our homes at this time of year is the poinsettia. It is too cold here in the mountains for poinsettia to survive outside at night but being native to Mexico they thrive in the warmth of the house.

Poinsettia bracts

Poinsettia hold up well either as a cut flower or a living plant. They need a bright spot in the house and the soil should be allowed to dry slightly, but not completely, between watering. Deprive them of either of these requirements and the lower leaves will yellow and drop. Also be sure they aren’t sitting in water at the bottom of the container. Poinsettia are brittle but if you break off a branch sear the end of the stem with a flame and it will hold up quite well in a vase or arrangement.

Are poinsettia poisonous? Ohio State University conducted extensive research and concluded that although poinsettia sap from leaves and flowers that might give you a stomach ache if you ate them they won?t seriously hurt you. The sap may cause a rash if it comes in contact with the skin on some people. With this in mind, you should keep poinsettia plants out of the reach of curious pets and small children.

Cyclamen

There are two pets in my household- a cat named Archer and Sherman, the Welch springer spaniel. I usually put a couple red and white cyclamen on a table in the house. Are cyclamen safe around them?

According to the Pet Poison Helpline cyclamen are mild to moderately toxic to dogs and cats if ingested but it?s the root or corm that is especially toxic if ingested in large quantities. Pets and people react differently and it is unlikely that children) would eat the corm and be affected.

My beautiful amaryllis flower and leaves are safe but the bulb is

Amaryllis

toxic. Amaryllis bulbs contain the same alkaloid that is found in narcissus and daffodil and is the reason deer know to leave them alone. Ingesting a small amount will produce few or no symptoms, however.

Azalea leaves and Christmas cactus are toxic and should be kept away from pets and small children. Holly berries are toxic if eaten in large quantities. Same for mistletoe and ivy.

While serious complications aren?t likely with holiday plants it?s still best to keep them away from small children and out of your pet?s reach.

California drought, Climate change

Trees Help offset rising CO2 levels

Never underestimate the power of nature especially that of plants. I was heartened this week to read about a study recently published by the Department of Energy?s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory regarding the increased rate that the earth?s vegetation is absorbing human-induced CO2.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Santa Cruz Mountains looking towards Monterey Bay

When I was a kid my father used to work at the Berkeley Lab. As a welder during the 50?s I remember him coming home and tell me about working on the bevatron which was the state of the art atom-smasher being built there. The goal of Berkeley Lab which Dad used to call The Radiation Lab has always been to bring science solutions to the world.

A new study published in this month?s Berkeley Lab newsletter, has found that plants are grabbing more carbon from the air than in previous decades. The study is based on extensive ground and atmospheric observations, satellite measurements of vegetation and computer modeling.

?To be clear, human activity continues to emit increasing amounts of carbon?, the study explains but plants have slowed the rate of increase in the atmosphere by absorbing more. ?It?s a kind of snowball effect: as the carbon levels rise in the atmosphere, photosynthesis activity flourishes and plant take in more carbon, sparking more plant growth, more photosynthesis and more carbon uptake.?

Another player was identified in the study. Plant respiration, a process in which plants use oxygen and produce CO2, did not increase as quickly as photosynthesis in recent years. This is because plant respiration is sensitive to temperature. The study showed that between 2002 and 2014, plants took in more CO2 through photosynthesis but did not ?exhale? more CO2 into the atmosphere through respiration.

We what does this all mean? ?This highlights the need to identify and protect ecosystems where the carbon sink is growing rapidly,? says Trevor Keenan, a research scientist and author of the paper. ?Unfortunately, this increase in the carbon sink is nowhere near enough to stop climate change. We don?t know where the carbon sink is increasing the most, how long this increase will last, or what it means for the future of Earth?s climate.?

Still I?m hopeful that the earth will heal itself if given the chance and we can thank plants including the humble houseplant for helping offset increasing levels of CO2 from fossil fuel emissions.

Berkeley Lab is at the forefront of research in the world of science. Earlier this month they hosted a three day forum to study and share information about how plants transport water from their roots up through the stem and how they respond to stress such as drought. The new data will provide insight about how to better tend crops and other plants under stress and to improved understanding and forecasting for drought-related die-offs of trees and other plant species.

Also in the news at Berkeley Lab is the research the lab is doing in the search for an Ebola cure. Rather than using human or lab animals, a crystal isolated from the cells of a broccoli related plant called mouse-ear cress, provided the target related protein. Researchers have used this plant as a model species for studying cell activities and genetics since the mid-1940?s and in 2000 this plant?s genome was the very first plant genome to be sequenced. Quite an honor for another humble plant.

Let us be thankful for the plants we all love so much.