Hi again it's Jason from Fraser Valley Rose Farm and to get right to the topic of this video what
does a poinsettia taste like - well let's see not so good actually! I haven't changed my opinion
tried this yesterday and um it's very bitter um i don't know if acrid is the right word kind
of acidic tasting not sweet or good texture so i guess what i'd say is it's almost like a very bad
kale or not a very good so as far as being a good salad green goes this would not be it of course
the main concern usually around poinsettia is it's not the flavor but whether it's toxic or poisonous
or not and on that score we have good information uh researchers have gone ahead and tested
as much as they could on poinsettias and no matter how far they pushed it into hundreds of leaves
or pounds worth of poinsettia leaves they couldn't find a toxic level that would create a physical
reaction or toxicity to humans so poinsettias are not toxic not poisonous despite all of
the folklore around it that doesn't mean there aren't good reasons not to eat it first of all
well of course the flavor sucks but second of all as with any greenhouse ornamentals you got
to be cautious about what they're spraying on it the only reason i feel safe using this one
is i know who grew it i know the grower and they don't use any chemicals but as with all
greenhouse ornamentals they could spray it with pesticides or fungicides things that
may not be acutely toxic but certainly wouldn't be the greatest thing to put into your body
and while we're talking about christmas decor that might be toxic or not the ones you really need to
look out for would be things like mistletoe the real stuff not the plastic stuff although
i guess that could have its own hazards uh mistletoe is toxic as well as holly berries
um and while we're talking about indoor plants the ones you'd really have to look out for and
there's a whole list of them that things like uh sago palms dieffenbachia philodendron or monstera
those house plants have things that they can do to the body typically they all taste really bad
too like they would quickly cause irritation and swelling in the mouth so you don't have to worry
so much that kids and pets would go after them although it can happen the ones that
are specifically a problem for pets things like aloe and lilies as well are not so good for pets
so i think you should make the general assumption that anything that's an ornamental grown in a
greenhouse isn't for eating that for all house plants or many of them can have some reason why
you wouldn't want your kids or pets getting into them so they make a habit of it that's something
you have to consider and of course there's a whole list of toxic ones that i'll put up now
that you should probably take special attention towards now before i get entirely off the topic
of uh of the poinsettias a couple of things that you might want to know about it uh these
red some people will call them petals actually the flower entirely is this inconspicuous thing
in the middle of the of the the nest of bracts and the bracts are these modified red leaves so
unlike petals on normal plants which don't last all that long these bracts can remain red
and showy for a long period of time which is one of the reasons why poinsettias are such a popular
holiday plant second thing you might want to know about them is that in their natural habitat
they are a shrub so if you found them in mexico growing on a roadside this thing might be
eight or ten feet tall and that's kind of a neat thing so a lot of people
are able to take poinsettias if they leave them in the right environment in their house
and carry them on through into the spring and all the way to the next christmas season if they
if they'd like so that's another interesting thing about the poinsettias third thing is
that botanically they are a euphorbia now i have another example of euphorbia here
this one is called the donkey tail spurge and euphorbias are known for one particular thing
that actually is a hazard which is that any time you take off a stem like this break off a stem
you're going to find that it bleeds this milky latex and this latex can be quite irritating to
the skin on some varieties not particularly with poinsettia but with other euphorbias
for sure and the most acute hazard is that if you took this and you rubbed your eyes afterwards if
you had this milky sap where if you were say string trimming it and you got it in your eyes
that can cause quite an intense swelling reaction up to even having serious damage to the eyes up
to serious blind uh permanent blindness uh so it's something you shouldn't mess around with
if you have euphorbias in your garden and you're planning on trimming them or trimming around them
eye protection would probably be in order all right that's all i had on the topic today a
short one this week and just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and healthy
holiday season and if you have any questions or comments please leave those below the video