Sitting down to lunch on a daffodil bulb may sound exotic, but.. .(NB Bad poetry alert)
Daffodils are deadly,
Be careful what you eat
To swallow a narcissus
Could be your last feast!
Not the world’s greatest poetry, I admit; I won’t give up the garden design just yet! I felt inspired as St David’s Day was March 1st and daffodils, along with leeks, are a recognisable Welsh emblem. For example, they may be seen as weird hats on enthusiastic supporters at Six Nations Rugby games.
But daffodils or Narcissus, as they are correctly known, also come under the category of poisonous plants…
Narcissus are generally considered to be named after the youth, Narcissus, of Greek legend.
Daffodil bulbs do look like onions – but please don’t muddle them up. Leeks are part of the onion family. Onions are ‘good for you’ they have anti-viral and anti-fungal properties which help fight infection. An onion, baked in the oven is a traditional cold remedy. Raw onions are supposed to be even more beneficial although perhaps avoid them if you’re planning a romantic meal… Leeks were reputedly eaten by the Emperor Nero to improve his singing voice.
However, all parts of the daffodil plant are toxic; the bulb especially. The toxins contained in daffodils are alkaloids; in particular lycorine in the daffodil bulb, which is more poisonous than the leaves and flower. Lycorine causes diarrhoea and vomiting, and although normally most people recover in a few hours or days, daffodil bulbs are potentially fatal in large doses. during the Second World War they were the cause of a quite few deaths as hungry people thought they might be edible.
If there any flower arrangers among you, you may be aware of a condiiton called the florists’ itch. This skin hardening is caused by the irritant sap that various plants have. Daffodils are one of those plants that produce an irritant sap from their stems when these are broken or cut. You should be fine if you’re arranging just the one bunch of daffodils into a vase, although washing your hands afterwards is a good idea. Wearing gloves helps those who have to handle larger numbers of cut daffodils; you may also find calendula (marigold) cream used as a protective barrier good too.
On a more cheerful note, daffodils are often called ‘harbingers (heralds) of spring’, bringing a lift to the spirits with their bright yellow trumpets. And better poets than I have written odes to this spring like flower; not least, Robert Herrick, Sylvia Plath and of course, William Wordsworth- although his sister Dorothy Wordsworth is credited with first noting in her diary the ‘host of golden daffodils’.
There are many poisonous plants and poisonous bulbs; some of them are more obvious than others and it’s a fair bet that you have a sprinkling of them, in your garden.
If you’d like a ‘health check’ of your garden for plants toxic to yourself, your children, your pets, or maybe the new puppy or kitten or rabbit you’re getting for Easter, why not contact us for a Garden Advice Visit?
