My husband has thrown magnolia leaves into stews thinking they were bay, but we all lived. I had thought the most poisonous plant in my garden was my Nerium oleander. It sat outside my back door, and I had wondered if I should move it after John Cushnie recounted the (unsubstantiated) tale of a group of Indians using the wood as kebab sticks and how they all died even though they had only eaten the meat. It is in the top 37 most poisonous list, along with laburnum, euphorbia, lily of the valley, Ricinus communis (castor oil plant) and yew, but apparently there have been very few reported cases of people affected by it, although eating it may result in poisoning.