Poisonous plants of Veneto
Annotated list by habitat and type of toxicity
Scientific names in blue link to the species card on the site
Why do plants produce poisons?
List of species
Warning. This list is not exhaustive: Veneto, with its variety of environments
(plain, hills, pre-Alps, Dolomites, lake area and coast), is home to hundreds of species with
some degree of toxicity. In case of suspected ingestion, contact the Poison Control Centre immediately
(in Veneto, the one in Verona, at the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata, Borgo Trento Hospital,
open twenty-four hours a day) or call 118 (the single emergency medical number in Italy).
| Common name | Scientific name | Family | Toxic principles | Dangerous parts and notes | Habitat | Main effect |
|---|
Most frequent dangerous confusions
- Ramsons (wild garlic) (Allium ursinum) with autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) and arum (Arum spp.): the young leaves are similar.
- Great yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea) with white false hellebore (Veratrum album): the classic mistake when gathering roots for liqueurs; the leaves of the hellebore are alternate, those of the gentian opposite.
- Wild fennel, parsley, wild carrot with poison hemlock (Conium maculatum).
- Berries of black elder (Sambucus nigra) with those of dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus, toxic).
- Bilberry with deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna): black berries of vaguely similar appearance.
- Borage with foxglove (Digitalis spp.): the basal leaves can be confused, especially before flowering.
- Baneberry (Actaea spicata), especially without its inflorescence, with the edible Aruncus dioicus (goat's beard): the former lives in brighter habitats and in spring produces a shorter, more slender turion (shoot).
- Parsley with fool's parsley (Aethusa cynapium): fool's parsley, when rubbed, gives off a strong, unpleasant smell.
- Bilberries with the fruits of angular Solomon's seal (Polygonatum odoratum).
- Roots of parsnip or celery with those of cowbane (Cicuta virosa).
Concluding notes
- Toxicity depends on dose, part of the plant, phenological stage (that is, the phase of the life cycle), state of drying and individual sensitivity.
- Some species (yew, oleander, monkshood, hemlock, false hellebore, autumn crocus) are potentially lethal even in small doses.
- Poisonings from mushrooms (Amanita phalloides, Cortinarius orellanus, Galerina marginata, etc.) fall under the responsibility of the Mycological Inspectorate of the Local Health Units (Unità Locali Socio-Sanitarie, ULSS).
- For some species (baneberry, fool's parsley, wild angelica, snowdrop, morning glory, bay laurel, pellitory, Solomon's seals, pasqueflower, black elder, globeflower, white swallow-wort, black bryony, pokeweed) the information on hazard is taken from Atlante fotografico di Botanica Rhaetica (Photographic Atlas of Botanica Rhaetica; Adamello Park – Mountain Community of Valle Camonica, 2025), dedicated to the upper basin of the River Oglio. Toxicity is a characteristic of the species; their presence in the Verona area is documented by the field notes of the respective cards.
- For the precise list of the species actually recorded in Veneto, the regional and provincial floras and the updated lists of the vascular flora are authoritative.
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