OLD-TIME RUMOR CASTS SHADOW ON POINSETTIAS

For almost 80 years, Americans have believed the poinsettia plant is poisonous.

"Believe it or not, this mistaken idea grew from an unfounded rumor that circulated back in 1919," said Karen Gast, K-State research and extension horticulturist.

According to the rumor, an Army officer's two year old died after eating a poinsettia leaf.

"This not only had no medical or scientific basis, but also turned out to be hearsay," Gast said.

Since then, university researchers and the Society of American Florists have subjected poinsettias to some of the most exhaustive tests on record, she added. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Medical Association's Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants both have supported the finding that eating poinsettias will produce no symptoms of toxicity.