Overlooked Native Plants for the Garden: Update on Cneoridium Phytotoxins

by Lee Gordon Native Garden Committee

After my January newsletter article on Cneoridium came out, Fred Roberts emailed me with more and better information about its alkaloid phytotoxins.

I had thought that some people were more sensitive to the alkaloids than others. Instead, the alkaloids cause a reaction only if they penetrate your skin, and then after exposure to the sun. Merely touching or handling Cneoridium is no problem, but it can be trouble after it penetrates your skin. Fred is confident that none of us are immune to its effects.

Clay Tschudy and Greg Rubin spend many hours working in the gardens they have created, and before they became aware of Cneoridium phytotoxins, they could easily have been scratched by the plants. Fred, Greg, and Clay all report that Cneoridium blisters are seriously painful. Fred reports further that even after you heal from the blistering, residual alkaloids in your skin can produce yet another reaction when you are exposed to the sun!

In spite of their experiences, Clay and Greg still use them in their landscapes because they look good, they fill an important niche, and because a little care prevents problems. I’ll reiterate that you should keep them away from paths, and far from where children play. The good news about Cneoridium in gardens is that its niche as an intermediate foundation plant would normally separate it from passersby.

Fred’s information is particularly valuable for me because Cneoridium is all over my hillside, and because work I do in open spaces often has me crashing through chaparral. Now I understand that I need to be careful.