The daisy is a typical sight of the meadows and gardens of Central Europe and can be held without much effort. The daisy family, with its white petals and golden yellow tubular flowers, is a popular choice for children to keep in buckets. As with so many other plants, the question arises as to whether daisies are poisonous or what dangers adults, children, dogs, cats and other animals may be lurking about.
Marguerite: Toxic or not?
If you are also wondering whether the daisy is poisonous or not, you can calm down. Like the related daisies (bot. Bellis perennis), daisies do not contain any real toxins and can therefore be eaten, touched and even processed without any problems in most cases. Nevertheless, the plant is not entirely harmless. Daisies are known to contact allergies trigger, which is due to the polyacetylenes contained. These cause the following symptoms after contact with the skin:
- skin irritation
- redness
- itch
All these symptoms combine into one so-called contact dermatitis, which is clearly visible on the skin. People with a weak immune system, weakened people, very young children and sick people are particularly affected by this. Contact dermatitis is not really dangerous in most cases, but it does cause discomfort and can lead to the affected areas being scratched. Children in particular tend to scratch the reddened and itchy areas, which can lead to inflammation. However, since the marguerite is not poisonous, everyone can actually eat it. Just be sure to wear gloves while you do this so the polyacetylenes don't get on your skin and cause contact dermatitis.
dogs
Man's best friend is perfectly safe from the possible dangers of contact allergy from daisies. The flowers are even among the completely harmless plants that you can keep in the garden or in containers in close proximity to the animals. It doesn't even matter what kind of marguerite it is. Dogs can even eat the flowers without suffering a toxic reaction. In the rarest cases, a contact allergy can also occur. However, the animal must have one of the following characteristics:
- weakened
- ill
- another puppy
- hairless
Yes, hairless dogs like the Chinese Crested Dog or Peruvian Hairless Dog can suffer from the ingredients due to their exposed skin. The symptoms are similar to those of humans, depending on the size and weight of the animal. A hairless dog will endure more than a crested dog as the latter is significantly larger. You should consider this possibility with daisies and dogs. With puppies, you must also be careful not to eat too many of the flowers, as this could lead to stomach problems.
cats
Cats are among the difficult companions when it comes to poisonous plants. The reason? Compared to dogs, the four-legged friends do not explore their surroundings with their sense of smell, as this is not well developed. Exactly the same problem arises with tasting, because the animals mainly perceive bitter substances, sourness and amino acids from meat and fish. For this reason, the house tigers nibble on every plant in the area if it has not been marked. In this way, they try to remember flavors and which plants are inedible. Luckily, daisies aren't poisonous or pose any danger to the animals, and you can let your furry roommates play with the flowers.
tip: Even for rodents and rabbits, the daisy poses no real danger, since the ingredients are well tolerated by them. But you should be careful not to feed large amounts over the long term, as this can lead to digestive problems over time.
horses
If you're a proud horse owner, you don't have to worry about your mount. Leucanthemum does not pose any danger to horses and even larger amounts cannot harm the animals. The reason for this is on the one hand the size of the animals and the resistance to the ingredients that do not cause contact allergies in horses. You can easily let the ungulate eat daisies if you spot them in the pasture.
tip: Be careful not to confuse yellow variants of the plant such as summer daisy (bot. Leucanthemum superbum) with the poisonous ragweed (bot. Senecio jacobaea). This is highly toxic because it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that permanently damage the animals' liver, and up to 80 grams of fresh flowers per kilogram of body weight are enough to cause death.
medicinal plant
Did you know that even healthy people can easily enjoy the daisy in different ways? In a few regions, Leucanthemum used to be considered a medicinal plant, which should be helpful for numerous ailments and has the following properties:
- antispasmodic
- expectorant
- calming
The flowers develop this effect when they are brewed as a tea or eaten raw, for example on a salad. Daisies also work against abscesses and cuts if they are treated directly with them. As already mentioned above, sensitive people should definitely avoid this use, since consumption or ingestion as a tea could also lead to contact allergies.
notice: Please note that this article is by no means a substitute for a doctor's visit. There is no guarantee of the correctness of medical statements.
Detailed information on first aid in the event of poisoning and important information on the poison control centers can be found here.