Poisoning With Dieffenbachia

Comparative Foliar and Petiole Anatomy of Some Members of the Genus Dieffenbachia Schott in the Family Araceae

“…Slaves, in ancient times, were sometimes punished by having Dieffenbachia put into their mouths. Young children (at the age where they regularly put things into their mouths) are at risk of suffocation and death if they eat or chew Dieffenbachia leaves (Barnes and Fox, 1955). In spite of its toxicity, Dieffenbachia has been a very popular ornamental plant for many years.…”

Dieffenbachia: Uses, abuses and toxic constituents: A review

“…In the upper Amazon, Indians combined D. seguine with curare to make arrow poisons (Remington and Wood, 1918). Inhabitants of Caribbean Islands chewed D. seguine to bring about male sterility that lasts 24 -48 hours (Barnes and Fox, 1955;Walter and Khanna, 1972). Fresh juice of this species, when administered to male rats, renders them sterile for 40 -90 days, whereas in females the sterility lasts 30 -50 days (Madaus and Koch, 1941;Walter and Khanna, 1972).…”

“…One member of the genus, D. seguine, was cultivated in England before 1759 (Barnes and Fox, 1955). At present the variegated D. picta and its numerous cultivars are most popular.…”

“…These symptoms have led to the common name of dumb cane (Sloane, 1707): "If one Cut this cane with a Knife, and put the tip of the Tongue to it, it makes a very painful Sensation, and occasions such a very great irritation on the salivary Ducts, that they presently swell, so that the person cannot speak, and do nothing for some time but void Spittle in a great degree, or Salivate, which in some time goes off, in this doing in a greater degree, what European Arum does in a lesser, and from this its quality, and being jointed this Arum is called Dumb-Cane". Other common names are no less sinister: Comida de Culebra (Costa Rica), Hoja de Puerco (Honduras), Giftiger Aron (Germany), and the English Poisonous Arum (Barnes and Fox, 1955 ). Even in non-fatal cases, severe corrosive bums occur in the mouth, larynx, esophagus, and stomach.…”

A STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAPHIDE‐FORMING CELLS IN MUSA PARADISIACA USING FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY*

“…These form within individual chambers, surrounded by a slime-like matrix which is thought to be polysaccharide in nature (for a recent review, see Franceschi and Horner, 1980). The characteristic appearance, development and distribution of raphides have been used for taxonomic, pharmacognostic and toxicological purposes (Barnes and Fox, 1955;Metcalfe and Chalk, 1957;Lampe and Fagerstrom, 1968;Sakai and Hanson, 1974). In spite of the valuable contribution of these studies, it is still not clear just how oxalate crystals originate and how cell specialization occurs.…”