The flowers of the hibiscus are beautiful to look at, but the question arises again and again as to whether the hibiscus is poisonous to humans or animals. We clarify.
It blooms beautifully in summer and adorns many a garden, hedge or living room. The one from Asia hibiscus (Hibiscus) belongs to the mallow family (Malvaceae) and impresses with its brightly colored flowers. In German, the hibiscus is also known as marshmallow. However, the question comes up again and again, should we be careful of the hibiscus? In our article we investigate the myth of the poisonous hibiscus.
Poisonous hibiscus?
Everyone who feared that the marshmallow could be poisonous can now breathe a sigh of relief: the two most well-known hibiscus species – so both the room hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) as well as the garden hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus) – are completely harmless. Neither the flowers nor the leaves or roots of the plant are poisonous or harmful. The only exception are some wild species. Ingredients such as oil, mucus, malic, citric, hibiscus or ascorbic acid can lead to poisoning. However, this is not the case with domesticated species.
Our tip: Information on most potentially toxic substances and plants can be found at the Information center against poisoning at the University of Bonn.
Is hibiscus poisonous to humans?
Although hibiscus is considered non-toxic, caution should still be exercised. This is especially true for parents of young children. Since the hibiscus contains numerous acids, the plant parts are indigestible in too high a dose and can lead to heartburn or nausea.
Given the small body mass of small children, this critical dose is of course reached more quickly than in adults. You should therefore be careful, especially with small children, that they do not snack on the hibiscus unsupervised.
Is hibiscus poisonous to cats and other animals?
For animals - especially cats - the hibiscus is not poisonous. So there is no danger should your cat eat something from the hibiscus.
Our tip: Put cat grass next to your hibiscus. Your cat will definitely prefer this and won't want to eat any of the hibiscus.
You can find more plants that are especially suitable for cat lovers and their house tigers in our article about non-toxic houseplants for cats.
