Article

The Morocco's geographical position makes it an ecologically and climatically diverse country, home to various plant species of ecological, cultural and medicinal importance. Some of these plants are widely used in traditional Moroccan medicine, although their toxicity has been reported in previous studies. This could pose a threat to human health. This investigation seeks to catalog the spontaneous poisonous plants found in Morocco. Although these plants have an important heritage in traditional medicine, unintentional poisoning, particularly in the case of poor and financially sensitive populations, remains a major obstacle. In this work, we have compiled a comprehensive database of toxic plants found in Morocco, describing in detail the equipment and methods used on the one hand, and enriching our study with a detailed discussion on the other. As part of this study, we have identified 189 toxic species in Morocco. However, we will focus on the 138 spontaneous Moroccan species that are toxic to humans. These species are belonging to 99 genera and 46 botanical families, of which five are the most representative and total 66 species (47.82%), namely: Fabaceae, Ranunculaceae, Solanaceae, Asteraceae, and Euphorbiaceae. Among the cataloged taxa, 21 are strictly endemic to Morocco and 20 occur also in other sourrounding countries. In addition, the classification by life forms showed that the Therophytes (34 species) and Hemicryptophytes (27 species) are the most represented. Our data collection not only enriches current scientific knowledge, but also reinforces effective mitigation policies. This research strives to promote awareness, avoid incidents of inadvertent poisoning and take early action, while preserving the country's botanical heritage. Research prospects in this field are also considered in the concluding section.