"Rosie" wrote in message ...
I have a toddler and a medium-sized laburnum tree at the back of my garden,
which seems to produce a lot of seeds.

How poisonous are these seeds? They do seem to get everywhere. Would I be
best off getting rid of the tree?

It is a part of family history, that my mother (when 6 years old) fed
a large quantity of laburnum pods to my father (then 4 years old). He
was given a stomach pump and (as my existance can testify) he lived to
eat other noxious substances.

I also understand that toxicity varies, and occurs througout the
plant.

I've read the other answers, and would say that they mostly appear to
come from a Gardener's point of view. Much has been made of the bad
taste of poisionous plant material, but don't forget there is also a
habituation effect: horses and cattle can actually become addicted to
digitalis despite the bad taste, and I have been told of horses
becoming addicted to ragwort.

You need to take your own decisions, of course, but this is one I
would review on a regular basis. There are a lot of very fine trees
that aren't toxic, and if you find yourself worrying, you know what to
do.

It is quite common to fill in ponds until children are of teenage
years, and make other adjustments. Peace of mind and all that.
Frankly the laburnum is not that attractive a plant, in my opinion!