Is Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) Toxic?
Question from Sandy:
Need to know if cape cod honeysuckle is toxic or not-want to put in exotic bird cages for them to perch and/or eat on(parrots-amazons,macaws,cockatoos)do not see it listed on toxic sheets for birds,tortoises ectc and can not find the answer on internet sources that I have tried. Please help me solve this question. Thanks so much.
Answer from Pat:
There is no such plant as “Cape Cod honeysuckle.” Perhaps you are referring to a subtropical plant called Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis.) The word “Cape” in this common name refers to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, where this plant is native, not to Cape Cod where it would freeze and die in winter. Cape honeysuckle has orange or yellow tubelike flowers and is a rangy shrub or climber. Since you had the wrong common name, there is a chance that you are referring to a different plant altogether. Therefore, for your own protection please look up the botanical name “Tecoma capensis” on the Internet. Find a photo of Tecoma capensis, and make sure this is the plant to which you are referring.
If Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) is the plant you mean, then I can answer that Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) is not poisonous and does not harm birds nesting in it or eating it. Indeed, birds eat it in Africa and some birds there live on its nectar. In Southern California, where I live, many birds frequent Cape honeysuckle and hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers for their nectar, without any harm to the hummingbirds.
It is important to determine a plant’s correct botanical name when trying to look it up in a book or on the Internet especially when you want to find such important information such as whether it is poisonous. For example, a relative of the plant mentioned above is yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans.) This plant is poisonous, yet bees are attracted to it. The bees are not killed by Tecoma stans, but the honey that comes from it is poisonous. Animals can also eat yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans) and it does not harm them.
Is it toxic to dogs?
So far as I know Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) has never been reported as being responsible for making a dog sick. In one case I know of a back yard became a veritable jungle of cape honeysuckle during over fifty years of spreading growth and no care or pruning. The owner of the house owned dogs. The dogs lolled around in the shade of the Cape honeysuckle and never got sick from it that I know of.
I do not mean to imply that it no dog ever would have an allergy to Cape honeysuckle. Just as a particular human being might have an allergy, so can a dog, particularly if it is a highly inbred canine. Additionally, some dogs will chew on almost anything. Puppies particularly will chew on anything in sight. Unhappy and lonely adult dogs may have a chewing problem and develop a habit of chewing on plants as a protest or simply out of boredom and loneliness. But this is a sign of a psychotic dog and it is rare.
Even when a healthy and basically happy dog is kept outdoors in a dog run for too many hours it’s always a good idea to have some toys and bones for that dog to play with so it won’t get fed up with being alone and start chewing on plants. Dogs are social animals. They are used to being with their pack or with humans. Without the comforting presence of the pack or of human companionship, they can become psychotic and may eat garden plants. Any plant can make a dog sick if he eats too much of it.
Thank you for the information referring to birds and dogs—
What about Human consumption? Is the flower edible for humans?
No. Do not eat the flowers of Cape honeysuckle. It probably won’t kill you but it is not an edible flower.
Can you tell me what is eating my Tacoma Capensis some say it could be the Hawk moth. If so , how can i stop its destruction. It only started last year, and this year the hedging has gone from a bush to having no leaves at all.
Hope you can help
Regards Brian Stephenson
Go out with a flashlight at about 10 pm at night and you can find out what is eating your Tecoma capensis. It may be Indian walking sticks. If so, take a bucket of soapy water and drop them into it to drown. Keep it up night after night and you can get rid of all of them. Spray does no good. Treat the ground with earthworm castings over the roots to kill the insects as they emerge from the ground.
Also known as tecomaria capensis