Plants and Mushrooms
Zigzag plant
| Common name |
|
Zigzag plant |
| Botanical name |
|
Pedilanthus tithymaloides |
| Other common names |
|
slipper flower, lady’s slipper |
| Family |
|
Euphorbiaceae |
| General description |
|
Ornamental shrub with thick, succulent zigzag stems. |
| Flowers |
|
The red flowers are slipper-shaped, up to 1cm long and clustered towards the top of the stems. |
| Leaves |
|
The leaves are large, thick, alternate, elliptic in shape, up to 6cm long and wide, pointed at the tip and rounded at the base, falling readily from the stems, making the plant appear almost leafless. |
| Fruit/Berries |
|
- |
| Other |
|
Copious milky sap. |
| Symptoms |
|
The sap is a skin irritant. Ingestion can cause vomiting and diarrhoea.
Eye contact with sap is likely to cause pain and redness. |
| Toxicity category |
|
2, 3 |
| Warning |
|
For all eye exposures rinse the eye with water for 15 minutes. |
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