Some berries that grow in the wild are poisonous and can cause serious health problems if eaten. These berries often contain natural toxins that protect the plant from being eaten before the seeds are ready to disperse. While some may appear bright, colorful, and tempting, consuming them can lead to a range of symptoms from mild stomach upset to severe poisoning.
The toxins in poisonous berries vary widely. Some contain alkaloids, glycosides, or saponins that interfere with the body’s normal functions. Ingesting these compounds can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, or even more severe effects like difficulty breathing or organ failure. The severity often depends on the species of berry and the amount consumed.
Many poisonous berries are deceptively attractive. Their bright red, blue, or black colors and sweet taste can lure birds or other animals, which may tolerate the toxins and help disperse the seeds. Humans, however, are often more sensitive to these compounds, making it essential to correctly identify wild berries before consuming them.
In some plants, the seeds or pits are more toxic than the berry’s flesh. For example, seeds in cherries, apricots, or apples contain cyanogenic compounds that release cyanide when crushed or chewed. Even a small amount of these seeds can be harmful, emphasizing the need for caution when handling or eating unfamiliar berries.
Poisonous Berries
European Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)
This climbing vine produces small, egg-shaped berries that turn a bright, enticing red when ripe. While the ripe berries are considered only mildly toxic, the rest of the plant is poisonous. Ingestion can cause symptoms like abdominal pain, vomiting, and dizziness, especially in children.
Holly Berries (Ilex aquifolium)
A classic symbol of winter, the bright red berries of the English Holly plant are mildly poisonous. Eating them can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and drowsiness. While a small number of berries may not cause serious harm, their consumption is strongly discouraged, particularly by children and pets.
Pokeweed Berries (Phytolacca americana)
The pokeweed plant produces hanging clusters of dark purple, almost black, berries that are highly toxic to humans. Ingestion can cause severe cramping, vomiting, and respiratory failure. It is notable that the young spring shoots are considered edible only after being boiled multiple times to remove the toxins, but the berries should always be avoided.
Yew Berries (Taxus baccata)
The yew tree produces soft, red, cup-shaped fruits called arils. The bright red flesh is the only non-toxic part, but it surrounds a highly poisonous black seed. If the seed is chewed or crushed when eaten, it releases taxine alkaloids, which are rapidly acting cardiac toxins that can be fatal.
Daphne Berries (Daphne mezereum)
All parts of the Daphne shrub are poisonous, but its attractive, glossy red berries are particularly dangerous. They contain mezerein, a potent toxin that causes a severe burning sensation in the mouth and throat, followed by intense gastrointestinal upset, swelling, and can lead to kidney failure.
Lily of the Valley Berries (Convallaria majalis)
While famous for its fragrant, bell-shaped flowers, this plant later produces small, red-orange berries. These berries, along with all other parts of the plant, contain potent cardiac glycosides that disrupt heart function. Ingestion can cause abdominal pain, reduced heart rate, and cardiac arrest.
Mistletoe Berries (Viscum album)
The white berries of the European Mistletoe are toxic. They contain a cocktail of harmful compounds, including viscotoxins. Ingestion can cause severe gastrointestinal distress, a slowed heart rate, and even cardiovascular collapse. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe does not involve eating the berries.
Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
Known by the chilling common name “Doll’s Eyes” for its distinctive white berries with a single black dot, Baneberry is highly toxic. The entire plant, but especially the berries, contains cardiogenic toxins that have a sedative effect on the heart muscle, which can be fatal.
Jerusalem Cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum)
Often grown as an ornamental houseplant for its cheerful, cherry-like fruits, the Jerusalem Cherry is a member of the nightshade family. Its bright orange or red berries contain solanocapsine, a toxin that can cause gastric distress, vomiting, and circulatory issues if eaten.
Cotoneaster Berries (Cotoneaster spp.)
The bright red berries of these common landscaping shrubs contain cyanogenic glycosides, the same compounds found in cherry pits. While a small number of berries may not cause harm, chewing and ingesting a large quantity can lead to cyanide poisoning, causing dizziness, headache, and respiratory distress.
European Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)
This shrub produces vivid pink, capsule-like fruits that split open to reveal bright orange seeds. Both the seeds and the fruit are poisonous, containing glycosides that can cause severe liver damage and violent, cholera-like gastrointestinal symptoms including severe vomiting and diarrhea.
Moonseed (Menispermum canadense)
The fruit of the Moonseed vine is a dark purple drupe that looks deceptively like a wild grape. However, it contains a single, crescent-moon-shaped seed (unlike the round seeds of grapes) and is highly toxic. The berries contain dauricine, an isoquinoline alkaloid that can cause seizures and respiratory failure.
Virginia Creeper Berries (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
This native vine, often mistaken for poison ivy, produces dark blue berries. While not as toxic as others on this list, the berries contain oxalic acid (oxalates), which is poisonous if eaten in large quantities, causing kidney damage and gastrointestinal upset.
Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense)
This plant is a relative of the tomato and potato but is highly toxic. It produces yellow, cherry-tomato-like berries that contain solanine glycoalkaloids. Ingestion can cause burning in the throat, severe abdominal pain, headache, and potentially fatal respiratory failure.
Pokeberries (From Phytolacca americana)
While the young shoots are a foraged food, the mature berries and roots are highly toxic. The berries contain phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin, which cause severe gastrointestinal cramping, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. The berries are sometimes mistakenly used to make juice or ink, with dangerous consequences.
Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta)
This popular ornamental shrub produces beautiful hanging clusters of orange-yellow berries. These berries are poisonous to humans and many animals, containing saponins and other compounds that can cause nausea, drowsiness, fever, and convulsions.
Lantana Berries (Lantana camara)
The green, unripe berries of this common garden plant are highly toxic. They contain triterpenoids (lantadene A & B), which cause photosensitivity, liver damage, and gastrointestinal irritation in humans and livestock. The toxicity decreases as the berries ripen to black, but they remain dangerous.
White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
Known as “Doll’s Eyes” for its striking and unnerving appearance, this plant produces white berries with a single purple-black “pupil.” The entire plant, but especially the berries, is highly toxic. It contains cardiogenic toxins that have a sedative effect on the heart muscle, which can lead to cardiac arrest.
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
This beautiful native shrub produces distinctive, star-shaped flowers and small, brown, capsule-like fruits. All parts of the plant, including the fruit, contain andromedotoxins. Ingestion can cause salivation, nasal discharge, vomiting, low blood pressure, and can progress to paralysis, convulsions, and death.
European Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)
The black berries of this invasive shrub are a severe purgative, as the species name “cathartica” suggests. While sometimes used in historical medicine, ingestion causes violent vomiting and diarrhea and can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. The berries are considered toxic, especially to children.
Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius)
This plant produces beautiful, hard, scarlet and black seeds that are used in jewelry and rosaries. However, they contain one of the most potent plant toxins known, abrin. If a seed is chewed or crushed and ingested, even a single seed can be fatal, as abrin prevents protein synthesis within cells.
European Belladonna (Atropa belladonna)
Also known as Deadly Nightshade, this is one of the most toxic plants in the Eastern Hemisphere. Its shiny black, cherry-like berries are sweet but contain tropane alkaloids (atropine, scopolamine). Ingestion of even 2-3 berries can be fatal for a child, causing delirium, hallucinations, and paralysis of the involuntary muscles, including those responsible for breathing.
Strychnine Tree Fruit (Strychnos nux-vomica)
The orange-like fruit of this tree contains seeds laden with strychnine and brucine, two powerful neurotoxins. Ingestion causes violent, painful convulsions and spasms due to the overstimulation of the spinal cord and is often fatal through respiratory failure or exhaustion.
Oleander (Nerium oleander)
While famous for its flowers, Oleander also produces long, pod-like seed follicles. Every single part of this plant is extremely poisonous, containing cardiac glycosides like oleandrin. Ingestion of even a small amount of plant material, including the fruit, can disrupt the heart and be fatal.
Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia spp.)
The large, spiny fruit of this ornamental plant is packed with potent tropane alkaloids like scopolamine and atropine. Ingestion can cause intense hallucinations, paralysis, tachycardia, amnesia, and can be fatal. It is notoriously used in malicious practices for its ability to induce a controllable state of confusion.
Jatropha Fruit (Jatropha curcas)
While cultivated for biodiesel production, the attractive Jatropha fruit contains toxic compounds, including phorbol esters. Ingesting the raw seeds causes severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The oil is a powerful purgative, and the toxins remain even after cooking.
Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)
The spiny, bean-like fruit of this plant contains the seeds that produce castor oil. However, these seeds are lethally poisonous due to the presence of ricin, one of the most potent natural toxins known. Chewing and swallowing just one or two seeds can be fatal to an adult, causing severe vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and organ failure.
Manchineel (Hippomane mancinella)
Known as the “little apple of death,” the fruit of the Manchineel tree is deceptively sweet-smelling but highly toxic. Ingestion causes intense burning pain, blistering, and severe gastroenteritis, which can be fatal. Even standing under the tree during rain can cause skin blisters from the caustic sap.