Poisonous clematis

Frank raised an interesting point re Artie's Local Provenance question, and I thought it was worth a new message.
As you say, Frank, Clematis microphylla apears on a list of poisonous plants. It does seem to be a bit of a random list, as it doesn't include the other native clematis, which are almost certainly equally poisonous. Nor does it include the introduced clematis, which are probably the same. There are a VERY large number of poisonous plants.
I have decided that the native clematis are acceptable to me, though.
Clematis microphylla is one of the headache plants. You are supposed to be able to cure headaches by crushing the leaves and sniffing them. The Cribbs' book remarks that perhaps it cures the headache by replacing it with a feeling that one's head has been blown off!
Everist's book on poisonous plants of Australia includes it, but it also includes Eucalyptus, which is indeed poisonous if you eat enough of the leaves. I think that too many Australian plants have been rejected for gardening purposes because pastoralists have labelled them poisonous. If the same pastoralists had been allowed the veto on introduced garden ornamentals, not many of them would have made it into the country! (The plants that is, not the pastoralists.) We wouldn't have the feral weed, Madagascar periwinkle, which is on the same poisonous plants list as Clematis microphylla. We also wouldn't have Cliveas, which must be one of the most popular garden plants in Toowoomba.
Darling Pea (Swainsona species)has a very bad reputation because of its effect on sheep - but not until they have been grazing on the stuff for six weeks or so. Everist informs us that it is a good thing to leave stock on it for a maximum of four weeks, as it is very nutritious. Yet this is a plant people won't grow in their gardens because of its reputation for poisonousness! (The same people are apparently quite happy to grow sweet peas and daffodils, both of which are very poisonous.)
On Clematis microphyllum, Everist says "No cases of poisoning of livestock have been recorded in the literature but the plant has an irritant effect on the nasal passages similar to that noted for C. glycinoides" and refers to "the capacity of the plant to produce irritation and sometimes blistering if left too long in contact with the skin." Why would you leave it on your skin?
I am happy to grow clematis, but can't say the same for White Cedar, whose fruits are apparently the cause of many child hospitalisations. I'm also not happy about Clerodendrum. Anything called "lolly bush" whose fruits might be poisonous is not a thing I want in my garden.
I think that the relative danger of a plant is related to things like the potential attractiveness of it to a one-year-old at the putting-things-in-the-mouth stage of life. Exotic bulbs are dangerous because of the tendency for people to put them in the fridge for winter. There've been a few fatalities when someone other than the gardener has removed them from the domestic fridge and put them in a stew. Our local native daffodil is probably equally dangerous, and the bulbils do sit up on the stems like those of jonquils, but at least we have no need to dig up the bulbs annually and refrigerate them. Experimentation with herbal teas and bush medicines is also an area frought with danger. Even the bush tucker craze is a bit worrying at times.
Have other members had any worrying experiences with poisonous plants, native or otherwise?
Trish

RE: Poisonous clematis

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