Saturday, May 2, 2009

Random plant event: Anthurium andraeanum double spadix

Apologies to those five or so readers to whom I owe e-mails. You're on the list, and I'm working on it, but, well, I've mentioned that I'm busy, right?

This particular flower is both a freak and a rescue. I bought it last September from Lowe's, because it looked like it was basically fine except for having been drowned (this being, apparently, the only thing that Lowe's knows to do to a plant). Brought it home, cleaned off the roots as best as I could, repotted it in good new soil, and then watched as about 2/3 of the plant died. But it's come back.

I think it's maybe still a little traumatized, though:


I've seen double spathes before, on Anthurium as well as Spathiphyllum, but I think double spadixes (spadices?) is a first for me.

I give the plant points for at least trying to meet me halfway: it's clearly not quite got it together yet, but hey, it's trying. Maybe the next flower will be normal.

Or maybe it won't. I suppose it would be cool if I had a plant that always produced a double spadix.


Friday, May 1, 2009

Personal-ish: Marriage (Almost)

Front of the Iowa marriage license application. I got to be "Party B!"

I'm not a big fan of change, but if things are going to be changing anyway, then we may as well do all of it at once. (This is otherwise known as "As long as the noose is around my neck, I may as well jump off the horse" logic.)

The husband and I applied for a marriage license yesterday, though we are not going to be going forward with the actual ceremony immediately, because certain house-related things work out more neatly if we don't get married until after I'm done with my job. But this is kind of close enough for now anyway. Our apartment manager, who was also our real estate agent, graciously agreed (on really short notice) to serve as our witness1 for the application, and consequently is so totally getting a houseplant or a flower arrangement or something.2

Back of the Iowa marriage license application. Note the "Competent and Disinterested Person" bit.)

The date is also significant.

On April 30, 1997, twelve years ago, a few minutes after the end of the much-hyped "Ellen" episode where Ellen officially came out as gay (even though everybody knew for like, months before, and were sick of hearing about it already by the time it aired), I called my parents and told them I am gay. This wasn't because I was especially bonded to Ellen DeGeneres or anything: I like her, and I had watched the show, which was funny enough as sitcoms went, but it wasn't like I felt that if Ellen was coming out then I had to as well. It was more just, it had been increasingly difficult to talk to Mom and Dad about anything that was going on in my life around that time: among other things, I'd just gotten back from an abortive 64-day move to DC, involving an ex who I'd not been entirely willing to think of as "ex" yet,3 and although I talked to Mom on the phone a lot, at least weekly, not being able to acknowledge the nature of our relationship -- or, increasingly, any of my other relationships -- made for some awkwardness.

The new house comes with a very large maple tree in the back. It indicates something or another about the property line, though we're not sure exactly what.

They took it better than anticipated, though it'd be a stretch to say they took it well. I was kind of a wreck before and after also, as far as that goes. Which is another story, for another time. The point being, that was the date. At that time, there was a little bit of talk about gay marriage in Hawaii, possibly, enough to scare people into passing Defense of Marriage Acts all over the place,4 but nobody seriously believed that it would be legal anytime soon.

This is what will eventually become the plant room. Originally a three-seasons room, we're going to try to add another season. Seasons, it turns out, are not cheap.

So there's been a lot of change already, I guess is my point. Fairly recently, a CBS poll showed a jump of nine percentage points in one month of respondents who favored full marriage equality, to 42% of the U.S. population, and an ABC poll this week came up with an even higher number, 49%. That would basically have been unthinkable to me twelve years ago: my expectation was that when I did get married, it would have to be a ceremony with no legal significance, and it'd be regarded as weird at best, offensive at worst. Instead, it looks like we're going to get the legal significance without the ceremony, and most people won't really give a crap. Which would be delightful.

By the way: the recorder who helped us with the application said that Monday (the first day same-sex couples could marry in Iowa) was pretty crazy for them, and Tuesday was nearly as bad, Wednesday was pretty slow, and then Thursday would have been slow except that everybody from Monday was coming back to pick up their licenses. We didn't see any other couples when we were there. She also said that they had sixteen or seventeen (I forget which) couples coming up from Missouri on a bus tomorrow to get married. Apparently then they'll go back to Missouri and say they're married and gin up a court case or two when they find some people in Missouri who don't recognize this. It's unfortunate that lawmakers don't seem particularly interested in considering the constitutionality of laws when they're making them, that everything has to go through this process of being challenged and sorted out, but better that than have legislators passing any old law that flits through their heads. That would be terrible.

I have an aunt and uncle who will be doing everything in their power (which is not very extensive, but still) to prevent the Missouri people's marriages from being recognized: I wish the various couples luck.

The previous owners' attempt at a garden. Nothing identifiable here. It makes me a little uneasy that they felt they had to fence it in: I'm developing a serious fear of rabbits all of a sudden. ("Bunnies! Bunnies! It must be bunnies!")

The actual official marriage will probably be in June, though I dislike the idea of having a June wedding (just 'cause everybody else does it: November or December are more my months, but that's a long time to wait). That's when my job will be over. It'll probably be really low-key and anticlimactic, but that's okay.

We do have some concerns, still, about moving to a small town (and by small, I mean small: under 1200 people). We'd really rather not be everybody's first married gay couple. I feel enough like a target as it is.5

We inherited these from the previous owners. Not really our style, I think.

So that's the last of the bombshells. Getting the marriage license was mostly just surreal. We'll be back to plant-related content tomorrow, though after all this it's going to seem awfully trivial, I'm afraid.

-

1 Amusingly, the Iowa marriage application calls this role "Competent and Disinterested Person," rather than the clearer but less precise "witness." I would love to have a competent and disinterested person around at all times.
2 Why her? Well, it turns out that there are not actually very many people who know both of us in the area, and even fewer who would conceivably be available on short notice to do something like this, for one thing, and for another thing, she has a gay brother in Vermont, who is I believe civil-unioned there and who will (one assumes) be getting married in September when Vermont starts doing that. So we were guessing that she's basically okay with the general concept. According to her husband, who I spoke to for a little bit this afternoon, she and her brother were sort of bragging on their respective states for being the third state to legalize (Iowa) or the first state to legalize legislatively, rather than judicially (Vermont), so one supposes participation in a gay wedding gives her more points from which to argue, or something. She didn't say, and we didn't really talk about it: she had other things to do.
3 The DC period was a miserable time, though the misery wasn't because of the ex. Culture shock, undiagnosed clinical depression (I'm pretty sure.), graduating college without any kind of plan for what to do next, a week of the flu, and various other things, but not really the ex so much.
4 Which I'd never known exactly what the DOMAs actually said until today: they're apparently primarily there to ensure that the states with DOMAs don't have to honor same-sex marriages performed in other states, even if they were legal in those other states. Some states have actually gone further and pre-emptively banned civil union sorts of arrangements as well. At this point, there's a law or constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in every state except New Mexico (hasn't passed anything one way or the other), Iowa/Connecticut/Massachusetts (have full marriage equality), Vermont (will have full marriage equality as of September), New York, DC, and Rhode Island (will honor marriages performed elsewhere), and New Jersey (has civil unions). Every other state prohibits SSM to some degree or another, though several states (WA, OR, CA, CO, HI, MD, NH, ME) have one set of laws approving some form of same-sex partnership and one set banning, simultaneously, which will need to be worked out at some point in the near future.
5 Not that people in small towns in Iowa can't also be perfectly accepting and friendly and everything else, or that big city folk are always live-and-let-live about everything: I've met one Iowa City resident who looked like your run of the mill sweet little old lady, but had a personality that could strip the paint off the walls, set the paint chips on fire, and then turn the ashes to poisonous snakes. It's just that small-towns are sort of known for everybody being all up in everybody else's business, and this is kind of a weird thing to walk into deliberately, given the circumstances.


Thursday, April 30, 2009

Personal-ish: Job

Petunia (grandiflora?) 'Tidal Wave Silver.'

Second bombshell (of three) for the week, and probably the one my readers will find most surprising: I'm quitting my job. I told the boss on April 23rd. I'm going to be working through at least May 23, and then probably off for a week, and then maybe I'll be back one or two days per week through the middle of June or something. A lot depends on how horrible moving is, and how out-of-control life is feeling by late May.

I have mixed feelings about this, though overall I think it's more good than bad. If nothing else, I'm not sure my poor body would be able to handle another summer of this. I mean, we know the heat is an issue, and that time of year is getting closer. There are a lot of other reasons why this seems like the thing to do now. Some of the reasons sound better (or at least normaler) than others.

Rudbeckia hirta.

I've been kicking around various plant-related ideas for What To Do Next: I couldn't really become a wholesaler (startup costs are prohibitive), but in theory there's nothing stopping me from propagating plants on my own and selling them. The town to which we're moving is rumored to be starting up a Farmers' Market this summer, and many of the towns in the area have Farmers' Markets of their own, so that could be a source of income, in theory. Failing that, maybe EBay or something. I don't know. I've also been told a few times that I should look into writing, either for magazines or getting a book proposal together, which just as soon as I find out how and what one proposes to a book I will totally do that. Writing, at least, seems like a pretty duh kind of avenue to pursue, since I was doing that anyway.

The husband should be able to cover us financially, BTW, especially since the house payment is going to be about half of what we were paying in rent. I mean, we'd be giving some stuff up by not having the extra income, but since one of the things we'd be giving up are heat exhaustion and back-breaking labor, it seems worth it to me.

Catharanthus roseus 'Peppermint Cooler.'

This, like with the move, is also going to have repercussions for the blog, because (in theory) there will eventually be vastly more time available for writing and researching and photographing. I've been feeling guilty for quite a while now about not keeping up better with everybody else's blogs, so this might give me the chance to comment on other people's posts and link to other people's blogs and so forth.

The down side is that I'll have a much smaller pool of plants available for pictures. I mean, obviously I'll go back to my current employer from time to time, 'cause it's still the best source around for plants I might want to buy (though -- will it still have a selection perfectly tailored to my whims and needs if I'm not the one putting together the orders anymore? Probably not.), but I'm not going to be able to go back and spend hours looking around for photographable stuff. At least not daily. (Not that I do that now, but I do spend hours around the plants, and sometimes photographable stuff appears.) And also I'll have less inside information to share about what working in a garden center is like, or possibly I'll still have the information but it won't be as immediate to me, so I won't find it as interesting, or whatever. But that's maybe okay, right?

Verbena 'Aztec Red Velvet.'

I feel very weird announcing this, in a number of ways but mostly because this is something of a risk, and I'm not ordinarily someone who likes to take risks. (Though staying at the job was not without its risks, either.) Doing it anyway, but it feels weird.


Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Personal-ish: House

Yesterday the husband closed on a house in another town (not Iowa City, though relatively nearby), which we will be moving into at some point. I've never owned a house before,1 which was, I thought, a pretty good reason not to be into outdoor plants, so now we're going to find out if I really think tropical plants are superior, or if I was only saying that because I couldn't have any temperate-zone plants.

Obviously the blog is going to suffer a little bit in the short term; although the husband has already rented a storage unit in said town, and has been moving stuff into it for about a month now (he's a glass-half-full kind of person; he's thought the deal was going to go through for a lot longer than I have), there's an awful lot to move, and of course I've been busy enough with work and the plants and the blog and whatever else it is I do, so my stuff is a lot less, er, dealt with than his.

Sempervivum 'Red Beauty.'

Exactly how much the blog is going to suffer is yet to be determined; I'll let you know.

As for the gardening: as best as I can tell (I've only actually seen the place once, and that was at night), the yard is mostly sun. It's basically a long thin strip that extends west from the house. There's a tree at the far end, and there will be a fence on the north and south sides of the property, but there's not really anything else for shade.

Portulaca 'Tequila Mix.' It's only just getting started now; it'll be more awe-inspiring later.

I've already bought some plants for the yard (The glass is occasionally half-full for me, too -- particularly when optimism means I can buy plants): so far we have a whole flat of Portulaca grandiflora 'Tequila Mix' (moss rose), because it's the best annual ever,2 a Lantana camara 'Rose Glow Improved,' because I have positive associations with it now, a smallish pot of strawberries (Fragaria 'Fort Laramie'),3 a Sempervivum 'Red Beauty,'4 Lysimachia 'Goldilocks,' and I have some 'Quarterback' coleus5 from last spring that I kept as a houseplant, as well as brand-new-this-year 'Kingswood Torch,' 'Glennis,' 'Peter Wonder,' 'Splish Splash,' and possibly others I'm failing to remember. I like coleus. The coleus won't necessarily end up outside. In fact, I have no idea what I'm going to be doing with most of this stuff. To begin with, I'm just buying the plants I like, and we'll see how that goes, and we'll worry about having some kind of coherent plan next year. This year, we're just trying out the outdoor gardening thing to see if it's any fun. I've been told it is, but I remain skeptical.

There are perennials I like too (Lysimachia is supposed to be a perennial here.), but I don't know any of them terribly well, and most of the ones I do know somewhat and like okay are shade-lovers that I don't think will work that well for this situation. Shrubs I know basically not at all, and trees are not a good idea, I think, because we may want to put up a greenhouse in the back someday, and planting trees and shading the whole back yard could make a greenhouse kinda useless. Also it's not that big of a yard anyway.

Lysimachia 'Goldilocks,' in extra-dramatic lighting.

I'd also really like to find something for the lawn besides grass. I mean, the grass that's there already is fine and all, but mowing, weeding, spraying, watering, etc. all seem like really dumb ways to spend one's time. I hear there are other things that can be used instead, but I've seen very little about what, specifically, or how one goes about replacing grass. Anybody know any good references?

Pictures of house and lawn to follow . . . when I get around to it. The husband reports that there are Hostas.

-

1 Technically, I still don't, since the whole deal has gone through under the husband's name, but I think he's going to let me live there anyway.
2 So long as the rabbits don't eat it, which Kim tells me they like to do. I believe her exact words were "rabbit candy." Worrisome, but I'm still going to try.
3 (We had NOID strawberries in the back yard when I was a kid. I went ahead and bought the 'Fort Laramies' already because it looked like we were in danger of selling out of strawberries before the house thing went through. Strawberries are all but flying out the door this year.)
4 My good grandmother had Sempervivums outside her front door. (Like some people, I had a good grandmother and an evil grandmother, both of whom were into plants. Evil grandma went for ornamentals, irises and clematis and snapdragons and tulips and so forth, with only a few vegetables. Good grandma had less time on her hands, so she went more for vegetables, with only a few ornamentals. Both of them had houseplants: evil grandma probably deserves most of the credit -- or blame -- for my interest in them. By most measures, I take more after evil grandma than after good grandma.)
5 (Solenostemon scutellarioides)


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Random plant event: Calathea zebrina concinna flowering

A bit of a palate cleanser to follow the plant toxicity series. (Yes, I know I did something different yesterday: my palate still doesn't feel cleansed, okay?) In the next week or so, there should be some personal announcements from me that are going to necessitate some changing around of . . . you know, things, and so I don't feel like getting into another major post right away. Also I just finished a major post, which also makes me not feel like getting into another major post right away.

Anyway.

We've had Calatheas bloom at work before, though they've been different kinds of flowers in the past (stiff, orangish, on thicker stalks), and they don't happen very often.


I tried to get a close-up picture, but none of them turned out particularly well.


Monday, April 27, 2009

[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part IX

It's transmitted-light photo time again! This particular batch rocks much harder than usual.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Cyclamen persicum NOID. Not especially interesting, but what were you expecting? The leaves are way too thick for any interesting venation to show.


Eucharis grandiflora. Better. I can't remember now whether or not the color might have been tweaked just a little on this photo. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. They are very green.


Saxifraga stolonifera. This is the kind of discovery I make these transmitted light pictures for: I don't think I'd have ever noticed the spots on the underside of the leaves otherwise.


Aglaonema 'Golden Bay.' I wish I had room for one of these at home. I mean, not that I don't already have plenty of Aglaonemas, but this variety is particularly nice. There's just no spot for one to go, anywhere.


Spathiphyllum 'Domino.' Though this picture shows the variegation, it doesn't show the weird leaf texture so well. At first, I didn't notice the texture, and then I noticed it but didn't really think about it much, and now I notice it and think it's kind of bizarre and wonder what is going on with this plant.


Peperomia caperata NOID. The colors are weird: I can't decide if I like them or not. Focus is somewhat improved by opening the picture in its own window.


Laurus nobilis. I find it interesting that some plants, in transmitted light, look like light-colored leaves with darker veins running through, and others, like this one, look like dark-colored leaves with lighter veins. I haven't made a careful study of the matter to see whether the light-vein plants are all related or something; so far, I've just noticed.


Codiaeum variegatum 'Mrs. Iceton.' Sometimes I think crotons maybe just have too many colors. Makes 'em look all . . . busy.


Plasticum artificialis marantoides. Yeah, okay, this one shouldn't be here, technically, as it's not a real plant. I told myself it was for the sake of comparison.


Codiaeum variegatum, possibly 'Petra.' This was my header photo for a while.


Sunday, April 26, 2009

Rumor

According to Foreward Magazine's review of the new (as yet unreleased) Amy Stewart book, Wicked Plants, the book will contain the sentence,

"Some of the most popular houseplants are surprisingly toxic."
So perhaps there will be houseplant content after all. If true, this would please me.


Houseplant Toxicity Week Appendix 2: Index

If you have landed on this page because you are concerned about a child or pet who has eaten a plant, seek emergency medical help.
In the U.S., you can call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (for children), the ASPCA at 1-888-426-4435 (for pets; $60 consultation fee applies), or the Pet Poison Helpline at 1-800-213-6680 (pets; $35 fee applies)
.
Second appendix to the seven-part-and-two-appendix houseplant toxicity series. (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Appendix 1)
This is the index for the Houseplant Toxicity Series of posts. If you have reached this page first in a Google search or whatever, I recommend that you find the plant on this list and then follow the link to get more specific information about that plant. If the plant's botanical name is highlighted, that means that it was the subject of a plant profile here at PATSP, in which case you can also click the plant's name and find out care information, trivia, and so forth.
Toxicity ratings are more or less decided as follows:
Crazy super dangerous: is highly toxic, and has either resulted in repeated human or pet fatalities, or is for whatever reason thought to be very likely to do so.
Dangerous : Fatalities are rare or nonexistent, but the plant is still capable of causing serious and possibly permanent injury requiring hospitalization, extreme pain, temporary disability, or something along those lines. Dangerous plants may make you want to die, but you probably won't actually die. Though the possibility is theoretically there.
Potentially dangerous: This designation is for plants which are probably capable of causing harm and maybe even death, but you'd have to eat your body weight in the plant for that to happen, or it's impossible to find any actual case reports, or etc. Potentially dangerous plants will probably be more risky for pets than people.
Unpleasant : The plant is not likely to kill you, or even to result in serious injury, but it may be capable of causing vomiting, bad skin or eye irritation, diarrhea, burning, itching, or other bad things, and you don't want to eat it on purpose. This is also the designation for plants which are otherwise safe but bear thorns or spines that could puncture the mouth or digestive tract.
Safe : Should be safe in most quantities and for most people/animals, though exceptions may exist.
Unknown : I couldn't find enough good information to decide one way or the other, or I found the information but it conflicted with other information. I did make a guess as to the level of risk on the page for unknown-toxicity plants, but this is only a (semi-educated) guess and I am almost certainly really wrong on one or more of the plants therein.
I know the formatting on this page needs some work (EDIT: Some of the problem is that Google changed how Blogger pages are formatted in the spring of 2012.), and that it's hard to read as it stands. I did the best I could. Putting together a draft of this index took me a good three hours to begin with; I didn't really have the patience to spend time fiddling with the formatting too.
Abutilon hybridum (flowering maple) [Unpleasant link]
Acalypha hispida (chenille plant) [Unpleasant link]
Acalypha reptans (dwarf chenille plant) [Unpleasant link]
Adenium obesum (desert rose, mock azalea) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Adiantum spp. (maidenhair fern) [Unknown link]
Adromischus spp. [Potentially dangerouslink]
Aechmea fasciata (silver vase plant) [Safe link]
Aeschynanthus lobbianus (lipstick plant) [Safe link]
Aeschynanthus speciosus (goldfish plant) [Safe link]
Agapanthus orientalis (blue African lily) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Agave spp. (century plant) (A. victoriae-reginae) [Dangerous link]
Aglaonema spp. (Chinese evergreen) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Albuca bracteata (pregnant onion) [Dangerous link]
Allamanda cathartica [Potentially dangerouslink]
Aloe spp. including A. vera (medicinal aloe) Alworthia 'Black Gem' [Potentially dangerouslink]
Alpinia zerumbet (shell ginger, variegated ginger) [Unpleasant link]
Alternanthera spp. (A. dentata 'Purple Knight') [Safe link]
Amaryllis spp. (amaryllis) [Dangerous link]
Ananas comosus (pineapple) [Unpleasant link]
Anthurium spp. including A. andraeanum (flamingo flower, oilcloth flower, tailflower) and the various hybrids (bird's-nest anthurium, e.g.) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Aphelandra squarrosa (zebra plant, saffron spike) [Safe link]
Araucaria bidwillii (bunya-bunya) [Unpleasant link]
Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine) [Unpleasant link]
Ardisia crenata (coral berry) [Unknown link]
Ardisia elliptica (shoebutton tree) [Unknown link]
Asparagus spp. (asparagus ferns) [Potentially dangerous link]
Aspidistra lurida, A. elatior (cast-iron plant) [Unknown link]
Asplenium nidus, A. antiquum (birdsnest fern, Japanese birdsnest fern) [Unknown link]
Asplundia 'Jungle Drum' [Unknown link]
Aucuba japonica (Japanese laurel, spotted laurel) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm) [Safe link]
Begonia spp. (wax begonia, tuberous begonia, rex begonia) [Safe link]
Bougainvillea spp. (bougainvillea) [Unpleasant link]
Bowiea volubilis (climbing onion) [Dangerous link]
Brassolaeliocattleya cvv. [Safe link]
Brugmansia spp. (angel's trumpets, tree datura) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Caladium cvv. (angel wings, heart of Jesus, elephant's ear) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Calathea spp. including Calathea ornata [Safe link]
Capsicum annuum (chili pepper, bell pepper, etc.) [Unpleasant link]
Caryota mitis and other Caryota spp. (fishtail palm) [Potentially dangerous link]
Cattleya spp. [Safe link]
Cereus peruvianus [Unknown link]
Ceropegia woodii (rosary vine, string of hearts) [Unknown link]
Cestrum diurnum (day-blooming jessamine, day-blooming cestrum) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Cestrum nocturnum (night-blooming jasmine, night-blooming jessamine) [Dangerous link]
Chamaedorea elegans (parlor palm) [Safe link]
Chamaedorea metallica (metallica palm, miniature fishtail palm) [Safe link]
Chamedorea seifrizii (bamboo palm) [Safe link]
Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, airplane plant, mala madre) [Unknown link]
Chlorophytum x 'Fire Flash' (Fire Flash, mandarin plant, green orange) [Unknown link]
Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (areca palm) [Safe link]
Chrysanthemum spp. (mum) [Unpleasant link]
Cissus quadrangularis [Unpleasant link]
Cissus rhombifolia (grape ivy, oakleaf ivy) [Safe link]
Citrus spp. (lemon, lime, orange) [Safe link]
Clivia miniata (kaffir lily) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Codiaeum variegatum (croton) [Unpleasant link]
Coffea arabica (coffee tree) [Safe link]
Colocasia spp. (elephant ear, taro) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Columnea spp. [Safe link]
Cordyline fruticosa (ti plant) [Safe link]
Cotelydon spp. [Potentially dangerouslink]
Crassula ovata (jade plant) [Dangerous link]
Cryptanthus spp. (earth star) [Unpleasant link]
Cryptostegia madagascariensis (Madagascar rubber vine) [Dangerous link]
Ctenanthe spp. (never-never plant) [Safe link]
Cuphea ignea (cigar flower) [Unpleasant link]
Cycas revoluta and other Cycas spp. (sago palm) [Dangerous link]
Cyclamen persicum (cyclamen) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Cyrtomium falcatum (holly fern) [Unknown link]
Dahlia spp. [Unpleasant link]
Datura spp. (devil's trumpet, jimson weed, sacred thorn apple) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Davallia spp. (rabbit's-foot fern) [Unknown link]
Dendrobium spp. [Safe link]
Dieffenbachia spp. (dumb cane) [Dangerous link]
Dionaea muscipula (venus flytrap) [Unknown link]
Dizygotheca elegantissima (false aralia) [Unpleasant link]
Dracaena deremensis cvv. ('Janet Craig') ('Warneckei') [Potentially dangerouslink]
Dracaena fragrans ('Massangeana') (corn plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Dracaena surculosa (sometimes D. godseffiana; gold-dust dracaena) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Dracaena marginata (Madagascar dragon tree) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Dracaena sanderiana (ribbon plant, lucky bamboo) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Echeveria spp. [Unknown link]
Ensete spp. (ornamental? banana) [Safe link]
Epipremnum aureum (pothos, devil's ivy) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Episcia spp. (flame violet) [Safe link]
Eucharis grandiflora (amazon lily) [Unknown link]
Euphorbia bougheyi variegata [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia cooperi [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia drupifera (giraffe tree) [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia grandicornis (cow horns) [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia lactea (candelabra cactus, dragon bones, hat-rack cactus) [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns) [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia pseudocactus [Dangerous link]
Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia) [Unpleasant – details in appendix 1]
Euphorbia tirucalli (pencil cactus) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Euphorbia trigona (African milk bush, African milk tree) [Dangerous link]
Exacum affine (persian violet) [Unknown link]
Fatshedera lizei (tree ivy) [Unknown link]
Fatsia japonica [Unknown link]
Fenestraria rhopalophylla [Unknown link]
Ficus benjamina (weeping fig, "ficus tree") [Unpleasant link]
Ficus elastica (rubber plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Ficus lyrata (fiddle-leaf fig) [Unpleasant link]
Ficus maclellandii (long-leaf fig, alii fig, 'Alii,' 'Alli,' 'Amstel King') [Unpleasant link]
Ficus microcarpa / nitida / retusa (Indian laurel) [Unpleasant link]
Ficus pumila (creeping fig) [Unpleasant link]
Fittonia albivenis (nerve plant, mosaic plant) [Safe link]
Fuchsia spp. [Safe link]
Gardenia jasminoides (gardenia, cape jasmine) [Safe link]
Gasteria spp. [Unknown link]
Gibasis geniculata (Tahitian bridal veil) [Safe link]
Gloriosa superba (glory lily, climbing lily, gloriosa lily) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Grevillea robusta (silk oak) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Guzmania lingulata (scarlet star bromeliad) [Safe link]
Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion vine, purple velvet plant) [Safe link]
Ludisia discolor (jewel orchid) [Safe link]
Hatiora salicornioides (drunkard's dream) [Unknown link]
Haworthia spp. [Safe link]
Hedera canariensis (Algerian ivy) [Dangerous link]
Hedera helix (English ivy) [Dangerous link]
Hemigraphis exotica (waffle plant) [Unknown link]
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (tropical hibiscus) [Safe link]
Hippeastrum spp. (amaryllis) [Dangerous link]
Homalomena cvv. ('Emerald Gem') [Potentially dangerouslink]
Hoya spp. (H. carnosa) (wax flower) [Safe link]
Hyacinthus orientalis (hyacinth) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Hydrangea macrophylla (hydrangea) [Dangerous link]
Hylocereus undatus (dragon fruit cactus) [Unknown link]
Hypoestes phyllostachya (pink polka-dot plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Jatropha spp. (jicamilla, physic nut, bellyache bush, coral plant, etc.) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Kalanchoe spp. (including K. beharensis, K. luciae, K. tomentosa, K. blossfeldiana, etc., as well as the former Kalanchoe now called Bryophyllum daigremontianum) [Unpleasant link]
Lantana camara (lantana) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Laurus nobilis (bay leaf, laurel) [Safe link]
Ledebouria socialis (silver squill) [Dangerous link]
Lilium longiflorum (Easter lily) [Dangerous link]
Lithops spp. (living stones) [Safe link]
Mandevilla spp. (Dipladenia) [Dangerous link]
Maranta leuconeura erythroneura (prayer plant) [Safe link]
Maranta leuconeura kerchoviana (prayer plant, rabbit tracks, ten commandments plant) [Safe link]
Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Monadenium ellenbeckii (and probably other Monadenium spp.) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Monstera deliciosa (split-leaf philodendron, swiss cheese plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Murraya paniculata (mock orange, orange jasmine) [Unknown link]
Musa spp. (banana) [Safe link]
Nandina domestica (heavenly bamboo) [Dangerous link]
Narcissus spp. (daffodil, narcissus, paper-white) [Dangerous link]
Nematanthus spp. (guppy plant) [Safe link]
Neoregelia cvv. in general (by association) [Unpleasant link]
Neoregelia 'Fireball' specifically (by association) [Safe link]
Nephrolepis exaltata (Boston fern) [Safe link]
Nerium oleander (oleander) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Oncidium cvv. (by association) [Safe link]
Ophiopogon spp. (lilyturf, Liriope) [Unknown link]
Opuntia spp. (bunny ears cactus, prickly pear) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Ornithogalum spp. (pregnant onion, star of Bethlehem) [Dangerous link]
Oxalis spp. (shamrock) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Pachypodium geayi / lamerei (Madagascar palm) [Dangerous link]
Pandanus spp. (screw pine) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Paphiopedilum spp. (lady-slipper orchid) [Safe link]
Pedilanthus tithymaloides (redbird cactus, devil's backbone) [Dangerous link]
Pelargonium x hortorum (geranium) [Unpleasant link]
Pellionia spp. including Pellionia pulchra [Safe link]
Peperomia argyreia (watermelon plant) [Safe link]
Peperomia caperata / P. griseoargentea (Emerald Ripple) [Safe link]
Peperomia obtusifolia (baby rubber plant) [Safe link]
Persea americana (avocado) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Phalaenopsis spp. (moth orchid) [Safe link]
Philodendron 'Autumn' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron bipennifolium (also P. panduraeforme; (fiddle-leaf philodendron, horse head philodendron) [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Imperial Red' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Congo Green' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Congo Red' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron gloriosum [Dangerous link]
Philodendron hastatum [Dangerous link]
Philodendron hederaceum (also P. oxycardium, P. cordatum, P. scandens, P. micans; velvet philodendron, heart-leaf philodendron, 'Brasil') [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Moonlight' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Pink Princess' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Prince of Orange' [Dangerous link]
Philodendron selloum (P. bipinnatifidum; tree philodendron) [Dangerous link]
Philodendron 'Xanadu' [Dangerous link]
Pilea cadierei (aluminum plant) [Safe link]
Pilea depressa (baby toes) [Safe link]
Pilea nummulariifolia (creeping Charlie) [Safe link]
Platycerium bifurcatum and other Platycerium spp. (staghorn fern) [Unknown link]
Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish ivy) [Safe link]
Plumeria spp. (frangipani) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Podocarpus macrophyllus (buddhist pine) [Unknown link]
Polyscias balfouriana (balfour aralia), P. crispata, P. fruticosa (ming aralia) [Potentially dangerous link]
Primula spp. (primrose, oxlip) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Radermachera sinica (China doll) [Unknown link]
Rhapis excelsa (lady palm) (by association) [Safe link]
Rhododendron spp. (azalea) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Ricinus communis (castor bean) [Crazy super dangerouslink]
Saintpaulia ionantha cvv. (African violet) [Safe link]
Sansevieria cylindrica, other Sansevieria spp. [Potentially dangerouslink]
Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia) [Safe link]
Schefflera actinophylla (umbrella tree, octopus tree) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Schefflera arboricola (umbrella tree, octopus tree, arboricola) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Schlumbergera truncata cvv. (Christmas / Easter / Thanksgiving / holiday cactus) [Safe link]
Scilla spp. (squill, star hyacinth) [Dangerous link]
Scindapsus pictus (satin pothos) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Sedum morganianum (burro's tail) [Unpleasant link]
Sedum rubrotinctum (jellybean plant) [Unpleasant link]
Other Sedum spp. (stonecrop) [Unpleasant link]
Selaginella spp. (spikemoss, resurrection plant, rainbow fern) [Unknown link]
Sempervivum spp. (hen and chicks, houseleek, stonecrop) [Unpleasant link]
Senecio cineraria (dusty miller) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Senecio macroglossus (cape ivy) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Senecio mikanioides (German ivy) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Senecio radicans (string of bananas) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Senecio rowleyanus (string of beads) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Senecio x hybridus (cineraria) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Sinningia speciosa (gloxinia) [Safe link]
Solanum pseudocapsicum (Jerusalem cherry) [Dangerous link]
Soleirolia soleirolii (baby tears) [Safe link]
Solenostemon scutellarioides (coleus, flame nettle) [Unpleasant link]
Spathiphyllum spp. (peace lily) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Strelitzia reginae / nicolai (bird of paradise) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Streptocarpus spp. (cape primrose) [Safe link]
Stromanthe spp. (by association) [Safe link]
Synadenium grantii (African milk bush, African milk tree) [Dangerous link]
Syngonium podophyllum [Potentially dangerouslink]
Tagetes spp. (French marigold, African marigold) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Tillandsia cyanea (pink quill) [Safe link]
Tillandsia spp. (air plants) [Safe link]
Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant) [Safe link]
Tradescantia pallida (Setcreasea purpurea; purple heart, purple queen) [Unpleasant link]
Tradescantia spathacea (Moses in the cradle, oyster plant) [Unpleasant link]
Tradescantia zebrina (Zebrina pendula; wandering Jew) [Unpleasant link]
Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium) [Safe link]
Tulipa spp. (tulip) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Tylecodon spp. [Potentially dangerouslink]
Vriesea spp. including Vriesea splendens (flaming sword bromeliad) [Safe link]
Yucca guatemalensis (spineless yucca) [Unpleasant link]
Zamia spp. including Z. furfuracea, Z. integrifolia, Z. pumila (coontie palm, cardboard palm) [Dangerous – link]
Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant, fat boy, eternity plant) [Potentially dangerouslink]
Zantedeschia aethiopica (calla lily) [Dangerous link]
Zygocactus spp. (Christmas / Easter / Thanksgiving / holiday cactus) [Safe link]

(Partial) Bibliography (for the whole series of posts):
Nelson, Lewis S., Richard D. Shih, and Michael J. Balick. Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants, 2nd ed., Springer Science + Business Media, New York, NY, 2007.
Spoerke, David G., Jr., and Susan Smolinske. Toxicity of Houseplants, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 1990.
http://www.theamateursdigest.com/epoisons.htm