"Brian" wrote in message ...
Animals seem to have the ability to avoid poisonous plants. I can think of
none that has anything other than an exceptionally unpleasant taste. As a
student we had to taste minute samples of many. Ricinin excepted A few
years ago a local child died eating two or three of these Castor Oil
seeds --but these don't grow in our climate.
Laburnum I would keep away from children.
Cattle poison easily with Yew clippings and accordingly we planted these
in graveyards. Every village had to grow them by order. Horses are
vulnerable to Ragwort and we can be prosecuted for permitting its growth.
I would not worry about your dog. Chocolate is the worst potential
poison.

You have just stated a very common myth. The Weeds Act doesn't make
the growing of ragwort illegal it provides for a mechanism for
ordering control *where it is a problem* and only on *agricultural
land*. There have been some pretty outragious claims made for the
plant's toxicity. The toxic dose for horses is quite high more perhaps
than 20% of the body weight in some cases.

For more information i'd suggest http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/