Warning: 20 phototoxic plants in the garden

It is well known that plants can contain toxic substances. However, only a few people know that various plants in the garden can contain substances that can only become dangerous to humans when exposed to sunlight. That is why we have listed 20 phototoxic plants here.

Phototoxicity

Phototoxicity describes the property, more precisely the strength, of substances which, when exposed to sunlight, cause changes to the skin surface of humans and animals. The reactions of the skin are triggered by toxic active substances, whereby it does not have to be a poisonous plant in the conventional sense.

Note: The information about how strongly or how weakly different plants are phototoxic is extremely different. Depending on the source, individual plants are classified as slightly (harmless) or highly (dangerous) phototoxic.

How badly the skin is affected depends on the concentration of the substances in the plant and as with all Poisoning from the constitution of the person concerned and in this case especially from the sensitivity of the Go away. The clinical picture of the so-called meadow grass dermatitis is diverse:

• Redness
• itching
• Burn symptoms often with blistering
• strong pain

Note: Meadow grass dermatitis is also known as photodermatitis, phytophotodermatitis, or berloque dermatitis. The triggering substances are usually the furanocoumarins, which belong to the secondary plant substances.

Phototoxic ornamental plants (selection)

B to G

Bishop's herb (Ammi visnaga)

• Location: sunny to shady
• Soil: deeply fresh
• Flowering period: June to September
• phototoxic part of the plant: fruits
• Skin reactions: skin irritations of varying severity depending on the sensitivity of the skin

Diptame (Dictamnus albus)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Soil: permeable to water, rather dry, calcareous, poor in nutrients
• Flowering period: June to July
• Phototoxic part of the plant: especially bristle leaves, stems and seed pods
• Skin reactions on contact: severe skin irritation, often only with subsequent tanning

Angelica (Angelica archangelica)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Soil: fresh to swampy, rich in humus and nutrients
• Flowering period: June to August
• phototoxic plant part: fresh plant sap
• Skin reactions on contact: high risk of sunburn (angelic cadermitis) for very sensitive people

Spotted Hemlock (Conium maculatum)

• Location: warm and bright
• Soil: prefers deep, nutritious loamy soils
• Flowering period: June to August
• phototoxic part of the plant: sap
• Reactions on contact: strong skin reactions, blistering sometimes only after hours

Note: Spotted hemlock is one of the most poisonous plants in Germany and is not only dangerous because of its phototoxicity. This also applies to the water hemlock (Cicuta virosa).

Great cartilage carrot (Ammi majus)

• Location: sunny to shady
• Soil: deeply fresh
• Flowering period: June to September
• phototoxic part of the plant: especially the seeds
• Skin reactions on contact: varies depending on the sensitivity of the skin

M to W

Masterwort (Peucedanum ostruthium)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Soil: moist, humic
• Flowering period: June to August
• phototoxic part of the plant: sap
• Skin reactions on contact: severe skin irritation

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)

• Location: sun to shade
• Soil: nitrogenous, moist
• Flowering period: June to August
• Phototoxic part of the plant: all parts of the plant, especially the sap
• Reactions on contact: severe skin inflammation with blistering

Rue (Ruta graveolens)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Soil: well drained, poor, dry
• Flowering period: June to July
• phototoxic part of the plant: surface of the leaves
• Reactions with the fresh herb: reddening of the skin and / or blistering with subsequent brownish pigmentation of the affected skin areas

Meadow hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)

• Location: sun to shade
• Soil: nitrogenous, moist
• Flowering period: June to August
• phototoxic plant part: all plant parts
• Reactions on contact: redness and swelling of the skin

Phototoxic crops (selection)

A to F

Aniseed (Pimpinella anisum)

• Location: sunny
• Harvest: September or October
• phototoxic plant part: plant sap (e.g. E.g.: splashes of juice) under sunlight
• Skin reactions on contact: Burns
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

Dill (anethum graveolens)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Harvest: completely cut off tips from a height of 15 centimeters, from a plant height of 30 centimeters
• phototoxic plant part: plant sap (e.g. E.g.: splashes of juice) under sunlight
• Skin reactions on contact: Burns
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

Real fig (Ficus carica)

• Location: full sun
• Harvest: early varieties in June or July; Main harvest in September
• phototoxic part of the plant: milky sap (e.g. E.g.: juice splashes)
• Skin reaction when exposed to sunlight: inflammation, blistering

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Harvest: spring to autumn
• phototoxic plant part: plant sap (e.g. E.g.: juice splashes)
• Reaction on contact under solar radiation: photoallergic skin reactions, symptoms of burns (in sensitive people)
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

Real celery (Apium graveolens)

• Location: sunny
• Harvest: from August
• Phototoxic part of the plant: especially tubers
• Skin reaction on contact: Burns

Note: Real celery is only phototoxic if the tubers are infected by the fungus Sclerotina sclerotiorum. You can recognize the fungal infection by a pink-red color on the celery bulb.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

• Location: sunny
• harvest: two to three months after planting, earliest planting time: April
• Phototoxic part of the plant: especially tubers
• Contact reaction: different skin irritations depending on the sensitivity of the skin
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

K to W

Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)

• Soil: loose and sandy
• Harvest: early varieties seven weeks after sowing; others 10 to 11 weeks after sowing
• phototoxic plant part: beets and leaves (plant sap)
• Skin reaction on contact: skin irritations of different degrees depending on the sensitivity of the skin

Lovage (Levisticum officinale)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• harvest: ideally before flowering
• phototoxic plant part: plant sap (e.g. E.g.: splashes of juice) under sunlight
• Skin reaction on contact: Burns
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

Note: Lovage can be phototoxic in medical therapy.

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Soil: loose and sandy
• Harvest: from September (depending on sowing)
• phototoxic plant part: all plant parts
• Skin reaction when exposed to sunlight: skin irritations of varying severity depending on the sensitivity of the skin

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

• Location: sunny to partially shaded
• Harvest: spring to autumn
• phototoxic plant part: plant sap (e.g. E.g.: splashes of juice) under sunlight
• Skin reaction on contact: Burns
• Danger from harvest or consumption: no cases known to date

Meadow Chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris)

• Location: sunny
• Soil: dry to fresh, loamy, rich in nutrients
• Flowering period: May to July
• phototoxic plant part: all plant parts
• Skin reactions when touched: reactions of varying strength (depending on the sensitivity of the skin)

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