Is PODOCARPUS macrophyllus 'Maki' poisonous?

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f6r22 Plano, TX(Zone 7a) Feb 15, 2008

Hi,

I like this plant a lot, but do not want to plant it if it is poisonous. I have a couple of little kids that will put anything in their mouth.

thanks,
xman

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Feb 15, 2008

The fruit is edible. Not sure about the foliage, but it certainly doesn't have the high toxicity reputation that e.g. yew Taxus does.

Resin

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JasperDale Long Beach, CA(Zone 10a) Feb 16, 2008

Never heard of them as being poisonous. I've seen them used on school properties, so you should be OK.

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f6r22 Plano, TX(Zone 7a) Feb 17, 2008

thanks for the replies. I thought "maki" belonged to the genus "Taxus..". Does it not?

thanks,
xman

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Feb 17, 2008

No, you were correct in the beginning when you had it as Podocarpus macrophyllus 'Maki' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57006/ Podocarpus and Taxus share a common name yew, but they're not actually related to each other.

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f6r22 Plano, TX(Zone 7a) Feb 17, 2008

ecrane3,

Thanks for the link. The link however mentions that it is poisonous

Danger:
Seed is poisonous if ingested
Parts of plant are poisonous if ingested

Is this just a mistake?

thanks,
xman

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Feb 17, 2008

Could be. I've never heard that before. Is it possible to find out who wrote it?

Resin

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Feb 17, 2008

No, I don't think there's any way to see who checked off which details in the entry. My guess is someone saw the common name yew and checked off details that would have been appropriate for the real yew (Taxus) but not for Podocarpus. Many people get the two confused because of the common name, so if nobody knows of any other info out there suggesting Podocarpus is toxic, I'd feel pretty good that it's not poisonous.

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