# What kind of plant is this and will it murder my cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894 "2002-03-30T07:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/1 "2002-03-30T07:45:03Z")
[http://www.metrodemontreal.com/plant.jpg](http://www.metrodemontreal.com/plant.jpg) A former roommate just moved back in and brought with him a plant. It’s currently in quarantine in my room until we can figure out what kind it is and whether it’s safe for the cats. Any help would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![anyrae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@anyrae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrae)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/2 "2002-03-30T08:10:01Z")
I wouldn’t worry too much, that plant looks as if IT has been poisoned! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![YeW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YeW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YeW)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/3 "2002-03-30T11:09:26Z")
Hi All - It looks kind of Dracena ish? Hard to tell from the photo if you could get us a photo of the whole plant I might be able to give u a better idea. Most poisonous plants taste fairly bad and cats (which aren’t normally reknowned for their herbivory) are smart critters. HTH - ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/4 "2002-03-30T16:05:49Z")
Here’s another photo of the plant: [http://www.metrodemontreal.com/plant2.jpg](http://www.metrodemontreal.com/plant2.jpg) And cats DO eat plants, a great deal. They’ve been eating my statice since I first got them. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/5 "2002-03-30T16:38:53Z")
That’s “Dracaena”. and they are supposed to be toxic to cats. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/6 "2002-03-30T19:29:58Z")
It does look like a Striped Dracaena, which is poisonous to cats. [http://www.dracaena.com/VarietyDetails.asp?PLANT\_ID=24](http://www.dracaena.com/VarietyDetails.asp?PLANT_ID=24) [http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html](http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/7 "2002-03-30T20:46:18Z")
Matt’s photos show a “corn stalk plant” (_Dracaena fragrans massangeana_). The dracaena mentioned in **Anthracite** ’s second link is the “Dracaena Palm,” however, I have no idea what specific plant a “Dracaena Palm” is supposed to be. [This site](http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html) says that all the dracaenas are safe _except_ the _Dracaena marginata_ (or “Madagascar dragon tree”) that is rather palmlike in appearance. ([This picture of a dragon palm](http://www.danheller.com/images/Palau/Kayak/Slideshow/img17.html) is, indeed, a _dracaena marginata_.) [The Cornell Unuversity Poisonous plants](http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/alphalist.html) page does not show _any_ dracaenas. [This site](http://www.tcainc.org/newsletter/articles/nov96.html#plants) lists no dracaenas among plants toxic to cats. [This veterinarian’s site](http://dcn.davis.ca.us/vme/DrSue/poisplnt.html) lists only the “dragon tree” as toxic. [This (now defunct) site](http://web.archive.org/web/19970607073253/www.dlcwest.com/~createdforyou/petsplant.html) omits dracaenas from their warning list. And [this U.S. Army site](http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/ento/PLNTHOUS.HTM) omits dracaenas. I don’t recall ever hearing that a “corn stalk plant” was poisonous. (I could see it being confused with the toxic Dieffenbachia. They look nothing alike when mature, but both are sometimes sold as little more than a section of stalk that can be rooted.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/8 "2002-03-31T03:13:23Z")
Great, how about daffodils? (The same site linked to above condemned them, but given what they had to say about dracaenas, I’ll question that too, what the hey.) ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/9 "2002-03-31T03:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > **The dracaena mentioned in Anthracite’s second link is the “Dracaena Palm,” however, I have no idea what specific plant a “Dracaena Palm” is supposed to be.** There is more than one Dracaena in my second link. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-plant-is-this-and-will-it-murder-my-cats/100894/10 "2002-03-31T20:22:03Z")
Having looked at the sites, I see most of them list daffodils as dangerous, but one lists daffodils under “dangerous bulbs”. Are indeed only the bulbs dangerous?