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Re: Cotoneaster/ Poisionous plants

I know one garden in New Zealand that grows Fly Agaric - mine! We have some
mature pines and firs on the hillside near the house and this particular
fungus associates with the roots of those trees. The fruiting bodies appear
in the autumn and make a glorious site scattered amongst the brown pine
needles. They grow close to the trees and generally in places where nothing
else will grow (too dry, too much competition from the pine tree roots for
water and nutrients). I have seen no sign of them associated with the
younger pines (10 years old), so I guess they take a while to become
established. I think it is hardly a plant that you could introduce into your
garden even if you wanted to, unless you had some old pines.

As far as its poisonous properties are concerned, I don't touch it, or any
of my many other poisonous plants, and then put my fingers in my mouth or on
food. I think the important thing is to be aware of what IS poisonous so you
can take sensible precautions. Nobody is going to try eating a daffodil bulb
or rhododendron leaf, for example, but children may try the bright red
fruits from the English Yew which would be bad news, and people need to be
aware NOT to eat rhubarb leaves. We carefully instructed our children when
they were little on what not to touch and admonished them NEVER to eat
anything without checking with us first. They never did. When you have a
variety of grazing animals you need to be aware of what you need to remove
from the paddocks as well. I don't want my daughter's pony dying from
chronic liver failure just because I didn't get rid of the ragwort in its
paddock.

Incidentally, I do suffer from the Fly Agaric, but not the way people might
expect. I am allergic to the spores, which make my eyes very sore and my
nose run. As soon as I get those symptoms in the autumn I pop up the hill to
see the first fruiting bodies have opened. But then, I get similar symptoms
at other times of year from other (non-poisonous) things. It is the small
price I pay for living in the country, surrounded by plants.
Tim Dutton		timdut@freemail.co.nz
"Raindrops", Main Road North, Kaitoke, Upper Hutt, New Zealand
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