Where in VA do you live? In most parts of VA they're not hardy. They will begin to defoliate around 14 degrees, maybe higher. I cannot speak to the toxicity of the plants. I suspect only the seeds MAY be toxic. I wouldn't worry about yours producing seed though. It can take years and years. I don't think most animals would find the fronds palatable.

Here's a link

Here is a link that might be useful: Poisonous Plants

Sagos are planted EVERYWEHRE here and i have yet to hear of someone or something dying from eating it. They are common in homes, businesses, parking lots, schools....everywhere.

All parts of all cycads are poisonous, even the pollen and seeds. They have neuro toxins in them and the strongest natural carcinogens in the world. For a person to get sick on these things they would have to eat a lot of material. I would not worry about this as far as a person goes. Now, small animals is a different story. I get about 3 to 6 phone calls, or e-mails each year from someone trying to find out what can be done about their small dog that just ate some Zamia furfuracea seeds, and is at the vet, and is dying of liver and kidney failure. The furfuraceas down in Miami produce seeds where they get hand pollinated or not and they drop seeds everywhere and the small animals are attracted to the orange coating on the seeds. It doesn't take too many for small dogs about 10 or so pounds. Large dogs can eat more material, but I did get a call one time from someone with a full sized black lab that was in danger, and I told him what to do, and from what I heard, he came out of it. On a large animal, a man down the street threw all his sago leaves that he just cut off, over the fence where the cows were and 3 of them were stupid enough to eat some of the leaves. Most animals seem to know to stay away, but these did not. In cattle, it paralyzes their back legs and they drag their back legs around for about 3 months. His came out of it after about 3 months. In Australia, where they have a dry period and the only green left are the Macrozamias, the cattle will eat them because there isn't anything else to eat, and many die because they can't crawl to get to water.

I can say they itch like hell when being pricked by them.. very interesting story cycad.. very insightful.. thanks..

for kevip711 and anyone else - I was pricked by a sago working in the yard this week end. i have lots of redness and itching; the area of skin affected is now about 2 inches diameter. does anyone know what to do???

blast54 clean your infected area with peroxide. Then either break a fresh peice of Aloe and rub in it's juices or use some Cortizone 10. Either should releave the itching and cool the rash. The rash should go away within a week. A friend of mine was alergic to Philodendrons (also poisonous to animals) and this remedy worked for him.

I just got a warning email from a vet in N.Y. regarding the Sago Palm... http://wwwburnthillsvethosp.com They state that all parts, if ingested, will cause fatal liver failure. I also got an email from a petsitter that knows of one dog that died from just playing tug-o-war with one of the pieces that was left in the yard after the plant had been trimmed. There is no way I'd have this plant around any plants or animals.

My husband is a vet. He is seeing more and more cases as Sagos increase in popularity here in Texas. Just this week a client's dog died after ingesting part of the root of the plant. After presenting symptoms, the mortality rate is 65 percent!! I wouldn't have them anywhere near my pets.

Lots of plants are rated as toxic, but Sagos are exceptionally bad.

I am a veterinarian and this is indeed one of the most common plant poisonings in dogs (not heard of one in a cat). However, considering how ubiquitous these plants are, the actual incidence of poisoning versus exposure is pretty small. I have 8 dogs and lots of cycads and some have been torn out of the ground and chewed on a bit by my dogs (never actually eaten any that I've seen) and no problems... but I don't have any seeding plants and most of my cycads are pretty spiny (only a few Sago palms). However it still is somewhat of a concern. There are literally thousands of toxic plants out there and one must really know HOW toxic they are, how they are toxic, and know your own pets and their liklihood of actually eating something. Look at a toxic plant list and you will see Aloes, Agaves and Poinsettias on them, too.. hardly any toxic principles to any of those. Oleander is super toxic, yet not seen a dog ever eat one (a single leaf ingested could kill a small dog). But seen plenty of toxicities from onion and garlic ingestion that most people wouldn't think would be toxic to their dogs.. .grapes and macadamia nuts, too. However, the most common plant poisoning I have seen as a vet is marijuana... fortunately no fatalaties from that one, though.

The Sago Palm is lethal and its beauty is not worth the risk.

I was researching on how to care for a Sago Palm at the house that I recently purchased. The Sago Palm is lethal. It contains three highly toxic chemicals: cycasin, BMMA and Macrozamin. These are carcinogens, cyanide and neuro toxins.

Dogs are dying from eating the seeds (which dogs crave) and the leaves.

I hope that a small child does not put one of those seeds in its mouth.

You don't have to eat the raw plant to suffer from the poisons. Enough absorption (through contact or eating) will cause the ill effects

Even people (in the South Pacific where the Sago Palm originates) who the eat the processed Sago (to remove the toxins) still develop neurological disorders.

I am very concerned that such a widely popular plant is also lethal and harmful to humans, pets, wildlife and livestock and toxic to the environment.

I thank you for any information.

Barbara, I'm not sure where you got your information, but sago is not poisonous to the touch. The seeds are dangerous to small children and dogs that will eat whatever they find lying on the ground, but that is all. Cycads are rare, endangered, and perfectly safe plants.

I live in Florida and worry much more about my dog finding a bufo toad or coral snake than cycads.

I have a backyard filled with them and have been growing them for some 30 years. In fact, most of my plants are toxic to some degree or other (Hellebores, Eurphorbia, Oleander, Laurel, Foxglove (Digitalis)..., and the Poison Ivy is practically a ground cover. This is the reason why so many of them are, in fact, deer resistant to deer proof (though not the ivy curiously enough). I see lots of wildlife (wild turkey, deer, fox, coyote, a colony of feral cats, and eagles), but few cadavers. I don't disagree that these cycads possess toxins, but don't you have to eat them or possibly inhale their charred, burning remains. Most animals are not suicidal (except for man). This whole thread sounds borderline hysterical. Our nation's kids have become allergic to most everything because they now grow up in such sterile homes. We have become a nation of worry wards who are afraid to let children venture out in the natural world for fear that they might encounter a peanut. Sorry, I'm of the philosophy that whatever doesn't kill you, will make you stronger.

P.S., You can always sell your Sagos on eBay.

Yes, a lot of plants are poisonous, however, a toxic plant creating a mild rash is much different than a toxic plant that will cause death or liver damage.

(The advice I've seen is that all parts of the Sago are poisonous, particularly the seeds, and you should wear gloves when handling them.)

For me, I can't post a guard on the Sago to stop dogs (who love the seeds) from dying and I won't take the chance that a child walks by, picks up one of the brightly colored seeds and is poisoned.

From the information that I have read,

the risk outweighs the beauty of the Sago.

Loran Whitelock, who wrote 'the book' on cycads, and who's cycad collection was one of the largest in the world, had multiple pet dogs (at various times in his life) that cruised his yard all their lives... not one developed a toxic case of cycad toxicity that I know of.... but I do have to admit, of all the toxic plants there are in California, this is the one that seems the most likely to kill a dog (and I have seen many die of toxicity)... it is certainly NOT the most toxic plant out there, but it does have one quality that aids in its ability to end up making so many dogs toxic- it does NOT taste bad... the leaves (reportedly, from people who have chewed them) taste very little like anything... mostly plastic-like... and the fruits are supposedly actually tasty. There are few toxic plants out there that do NOT have a horrible flavor, and that bad taste has kept them from being huge killers of pets... cycads, on the other hand, do not have this bad taste which makes them 'extra dangerous' when it comes to canine toxicity. As I said years ago, cats rarely if ever get cycad poisoning, as they are not big seed eaters, nor do they tend to actually eat the plant leaves they chew on (particularly if spiny, leathery or plastic-like)... I do have cycads in my yard, and many dogs (11 now) and so far not a single attempt to eat a cycad has occurred... but then I do not have any (still) that are coning or producing fruit (they grow very slowly where I live now) so there has never been the temptation to eat one. Probably within my life time, one of my Sagos will be large enough to cone, but I have no desire to pollinate them, so will never have mature fruit develop... and if I have any that actually get as large as producing a cone, I will just have to remove the cones (very simple).

Toxicity to cycads via touch is not known to me... even the fruits, which I have handled extensively over the years, is not toxic to touch that I know of... even when the juices get all over my hands as I am harvesting seed.

Thank you for sharing your experience with Sagos

Which has the lethal seeds, the male or female?

In reading more about the toxicity - eating the seeds will kill if you are a small child or small dog, if you are larger you most likely will have permanent liver damage.

I'm stilling sorting out other research regarding the effects on people and the environment. And reading more about people's personal experience.

I think that people who sell these plants should fully disclose the dangers to those who are going to put them in their homes and gardens with their kids and pets.

Again thanks

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Only the females have ovaries; only females produce seeds. Since cycads are 'dioecious' each individual plant is either 'male' or 'female'. (Plant sex can be complicated; cycads have the simpler version.) Male cycads produce cones like the female (but different in appearance). The male cones produce pollen (which curiously enough), give rise to mobile sperm. Sound familiar? ;)

I have grown as many as 200 cycad species over the last 29 years. It would take me hours to write everything I can tell you on this subject. My cycad cultivation articles have been printed in 17 different journals all over the world, and for almost a decade of years, I have been the president of The Cycad Society which is international in scope.

All parts of the cycad is poisonous, even the pollen, and the jelly that was mentioned that the cones can excrete sometimes. People eat cycad material all over the world. Anybody know why Cycas revoluta is called the " sago palm"? Sago, or sagu, is a starchy porridge type food that the old native people from Japan made from the stem material. Seeds of Dioons are used to make tamales, and tortillas in Mexico and Honduras. The Aborigines in Australia have eaten the seeds of Lepidozamias for 10s of centuries. There are pictures of Lepidozamia hopei plants with 40 foot stems, that are literally 2000 years old that have gouges on both sides of the stems going all the way to the top, which is used as a ladder to climb to the top to collect seeds. Coontie, the Zamia native here to Florida, is a Seminole name for the plant because they have made a starchy food out of the stems for 100s of years. They learned how to use them for food by the Caloosas, who were here first. Some people leach the toxins out, some people don't.

As you have read, small animals die from eating cycad material. A 15 pound dog will usually die of liver and kidney failure within 48 hours, but they don't have to. A dog like a lab that weighs 90 pounds might get yellow eyes, white patches in the fur, and be really sick for a week, but with proper care, can come out of it and be perfectly fine and live a long time with no extra needed medicine or treatment. Since I talk about cycads to everyone I meet, my vet has heard all about them and she went out and researched a lot and has already saved several dogs from death. I don't know a lot about this subject, but she found some medicine that helps the animal have liver functions while the liver tries to get through the damage. Apparently it is amazing, but hardly any vets know about this and just assume there is no cure.

A child is most likely not going to eat a sago seed. Those things are good sized and are rock hard. Zamia seeds would be a different story. You would Hebe to eat a lot of leaf material to be dangerous, and most children or animals won't want to eat that much material.

I have designed and installed over 1400 landscapes, mostly in the past when I was younger. Any time there was a concern, I would put known male plants in their landscapes, so, no seeds. Even if you have a female plant, just cut the cone off once it is full size. On coonties, the cones come out in summer, grow until full size, and are usually receptive to pollination around Christmas. The cones will grow the seeds until the cone falls apart around the next November or December. So you have a long time period where all you do is cut the cone off. A revoluta female will become receptive in June and will fall apart around Christmas. Since the female Cycad " cone" is not a tight cone, but actually a cluster if sporaphylls, it is harder to remove, but all you do is remove each sporaphyll, one at a time, starting from the outside in. It may take a little extra effort, but it isn't a big deal.

This will get us started anyway.

Since the Sago is so enticing and lethal to small mammals, would it be possible to have a warning label for those that purchase the Sago?

But how would the person who moves into a new home know that the Sago that was planted by the previous owner has those lethal effects?

I thank you for the information that a child would not eat the seeds, do you know if there is any danger if the child handles the seeds or puts the brightly colored seeds in its mouth?

And how do you dispose of the seeds - do you mulch them?

I read about Sago in the south pacific (its native environment) about the toxins spreading to mammals by consuming the mammals that ate the Sago seeds and that even the people who eat the processed Sago (to remove the toxins) still have problems with the neurological disorders that are associated with the toxins contained in the Sago.

In this thread and the other 'Sago Palm Toxic to Humans' there are examples that people simply don't know that the entire plant is toxic and that they shouldn't feed any part of the plant to horses and cows. (One of the posts said that a guy had feed some cows the leaves of the Sago and that the cows were partially paralyzed for weeks.)

Another post indicates that people handle the juicy seeds without protection and that some friends had chewed on the leaves just to see what it tasted like.

I think that one of the other reasons (besides no warning labels) that people might not know of the toxicity of the Sago is that it is called a palm and it looks like a palm - and aren't palms eaten without needing to leech out the toxins?

Please let me know if the dog fully recovered without any lingering effects such as liver damage and what the vet is doing to save the dogs that ingested the seeds so I can share that with my dog owning friends.

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My adult son’s neighbor was burning clippings from his yard. He ingested smoke from the burning debrie. Within 15 minutes he developed a rash and swelling over his entire body. He was having difficulty breathing and called ambulance. At the hospital, he was given benedryl, epi pen, and steroids. Later he discovered sago palm was in the burning debrie.

That can happen when you burn debris containing poison ivy or Oleander too.