Native Plants

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Tuesday - May 29, 2012

From: Montgomery, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Poisonous Plants
Title: Identity of poisonous thorn bush in Montgomery Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

What is the name of a poisonous thorn bush in Montgomery Texas?

ANSWER:

If you are asking what bush in Montgomery, Texas has poisonous thorns, then I would have to say that there aren't any native shrubs that have poisonous thorns. We recently answered a couple of questions on the subject of plants with poisonous thorns. Here are links to questions #7663 and to #7716. Also, you can search the Botanical Dermatology Database (BoDD) for plants with poisonous thorns. If you experienced swelling and soreness after being pierced by a thorn from a shrub, it is likely due to the fact that a puncture wound can become infected from bacteria introduced by the thorn. Also, there could be a bit of thorn still within the wound.

There are shrubs/trees that are poisonous if eaten (fruit, leaves, flowers) that also have thorns. Here are a few:

Robinia pseudoacacia (Black locust)

Aralia spinosa (Devil's walkingstick)

Poncirus trifoliata (Trifoliate orange)

Rhamnus spp. (Buckthorns)