Important aspects of the ornamental plants at the public state schools of the city of Curitiba, PR

Abstract

The aim of this research was to analyse the ornamental plants found in the schoolyards as for relative aspects to damages to human health and local ecosystem. From a list of the 170 plants sampled at the 30 public state schools of the city of Curitiba, 60.59% were exotic species, 15.29% presented some
toxic or allergic principle, 10.59% were considered as invasive plants in Brazil and 6.47% as invasive plants in the State of Paraná. The results led to the conclusion that there is a predominance of exotic plants and significant rate of poisonous plants. For the improvement of the quality of the external areas at the schools for the educational and recreational activities, it is recommended to remove the species that present aspects very dangerous to human  health or that can damage the local biodiversity.