Rhododendron/Grayanotoxin

A detailed Summary of Rhododendron/Grayanotoxin

The plant rhododendron belongs to the family Ericaceae which also includes the Heath, and there are about eight-hundred fifty species which grow worldwide (Turner and Szczawinski, 171-2). The Heath family is a large one with so many species, all of the poisonous species fall into two of its subfamilies, one of which is the rhododendron.

These cultivated plants occur naturally in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and in the mountains of Southeast Asia. They are located in the Himalayas with seven-hundred species, southwest China, Burma, and in New Guinea with over three-hundred species (Turner and szczawinski, 172). It has been popular as ornaments in gardens and has led to a major horticultural industry with its widely uses in landscaping.

There are twenty-seven species native to North America, (Turner,172) and is the state plant of Washington. This specific plant is called R. macrophyllum or the Pacific rhododendron (

Pojar and Mackinnon, 61). It forms a shrub layer in forests ranging from shoreline pine groves to stands of Douglas-fir and western Hemlock up in the mountains. Usually they are located everywhere from homes to freeway sides and also in the forests.

The poisoning results from the ingestion of grayanotoxin contaminated honey. The other ways that it can get into your system is if you consume plant parts. Every part of the plant is poisonous, the flowers, nectar, honey, and especially the leaves, which contain more.

The name of the disease is honey intoxication, which is caused by the consumption of honey produced (Abrahams 1). The grayanotoxins cause this intoxication, and the specific toxins vary with the plant species. Other names associated with this disease is rhododendron poisoning, mad hone intoxication or grayanotoxin poisoning. (U.S food and drug admin., 1)

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 646
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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