February 18th, 2021

 

Hello,

This week, I am researching the plant locally known as “lantana”. After much research online, I was able to narrow down to the types of lantanas that are living in Arizona. Not really sure if I should say ‘living in Arizona’ or ‘native to Arizona’. It is still not clear to me if these plants were brought to Arizona or if they are native. The USDA has lantanas as both, native AND introduced to Arizona. Hopefully by next week I will have more information on how they came to be in this state. So far, I have discovered three types of lantanas in Arizona: Lantana Achyrandthifolia, Lantana Camara, and Lantana Urticoides. A couple of articles are mentioning Lantanas as having medicinal properties. This is contradicting to my prior beliefs since I was under the impression that lantanas were toxic. How can a plant be toxic AND have medicinal properties? That is something I plan on finding out. See you back here real soon.

A thousand thanks:

·         https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/stateSearch

·         Joloba, M., Kirimuhuzya, C., Odyek, O., & Waako, P.  (2009, March) The anti-mycobacterial activity of Lantana camara a plant traditionally used to treat symptoms of tuberculosis in South-western Uganda. African Health Sciences, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2932521/#:~:text=Use%20of%20lantana%20extracts%20in,abdominal%20viscera%2C%20is%20also%20reported.

Image Copyrights: https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/230099/#b

Feb. 11th

Hello! And welcome to my blog. Although we don’t have access to a lab at this moment, learning doesn’t have to stop. This semester, I will be doing research on beautiful, yet poisonous plants here in Arizona.

The contenders on my list are:

Lantanas

Pothos (yes, those we tend to keep in the kitchen)

Desert thorn

Russian thistle

Water hemlock

I will be researching their benefits; whether they are toxic to humans, animals, or both; whether they are native or were they introduced to our landscape, and if they are invasive. Towards the end of my research, I will also be hiking the most popular nearby mountains and try to spot any of these plants out in nature to see how easy or hard it is to come across these plants in nature. No, I will not be tasting them.

Thanks for the information and encouraging articles:

Agredano, Rene. (2016, October). 6 Dangerous Desert Plants To Avoid In The Outdoors. RV Life. https://rvlife.com/dangerous-desert-plants-rvers/

(2014, October). Poisonous Plants. Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center. The University of Arizona. https://azpoison.com/poison/plants/poisonous-plants

Schalau, Jeff. (2018, August). Poisonous Landscape Plants, Backyard Gardener - Yavapai County Cooperative Extension. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. https://extension.arizona.edu/poisonous-landscape-plants