Education AbstractThe plant kingdom is a producer of poisons from a variety of toxic species. Nevertheless prevention of plant poisonings in Argentina is disregarded. As children are more affected, an evaluation of the dangerous plants present in kindergartens, and about the knowledge of teachers in charge about them, has been conducted. Floristic inventories and semi-structured interviews with teachers were carried out at 85 institutions of Bahía Blanca City. A total of 303 species were identified, from which 208 are considered to be harmless, 66 moderately and 29 highly harmful. Of the moderately harmful, 54% produce phytodematitis, and among the highly dangerous those with alkaloids and cyanogenic compounds predominate. The number of dangerous plants species present in each institution varies from none to 45. Kindergartens have no landscaping plan and the majority of teachers ignore the existence of toxic plants. Appropriate actions integrating education, prevention and valuation of the natural environment are needed. IntroductionAncient civilizations knew which plants were safe for human consumption and which were dangerous (Álvarez Arias 2000, Neuwinger 2004). This knowledge, transmitted orally from generation to generation, has almost been lost. As early as biblical times the fruits of some trees were associated with the concept of life, whereas others with death (Wagstaff 2008), underlining the close relationship between the history of toxic plants and traditional medicine (Al-Qura´n 2005). For a long time, nature was the only source of drugs, but, since the industrial revolution, people began to prefer synthetic products for pharmacological treatments. These changes took place in association with new habits of life, especially in highly industrialized western societies, where natural drugs are considPublished: April 07, 2012 Ethnobotany Research & Applications 78www.ethnobotanyjournal.org/vol10/i1547-3465-10-077.pdf plants under certain conditions, and can be of either inorganic or organic nature. Mineral compounds are formed and accumulated in the tissues as calcium oxalate, selenium, and nitrates; organic compounds are present in the form of: alkaloids, glycosides, toxalbumins, as well as extremely complex molecules that have not yet been identified (Board et al. 2000, Nájera 1993, Szpunar 2005.There are various hypotheses to explain the origin of toxic plant substances. They may be considered as waste products, intermediate products in metabolic processes or as secondary metabolites that fulfill non-essential functions in plants but intervene in plant/environment interactions. Some are pigments that give color to flowers and fruits, playing a fundamental role in reproduction by attracting insect pollinators or animals that contribute to seed dispersal. Others protect the plant from predators, acting as repellents due to their bitter taste and/or poisonous characteristics. They also intervene in the plants defense mechanisms against different pathogens, acting as natural pesticides. In some cases the e...