^ :ahM iO f^ni::fh.or\. DEPAiv I ; Principal Poisonous Plants of Canada By FAITH FYLES, B.A, ASSISTANT BOTANIST Bulletin No. 39 Second Series Published by direction of Hon S. F. Tolmie, Min I Airricultiire. Ottawa. Out. NVOfSOM J* MIS" MEM H^Af.]^, 5' oewco fi^«v«A anbbrie? J0«4M' lo n INMgMORIA ROP€RT>JOIM€$ FOR MAMY YEARS ATEACKe»5. IW THIS COLLEOE5r55N.9^ THIS BQPjClSONEOf ANUMB9? FROKiTj^E LIBRARY 9^JvL»4;wenty-four hours. PLANTS POISONOUS TO DIFFERENT ANIMALS The following list, in each case, does not include all the plants that are poisonous to the different animals, but only those through which most loss has been suffered. Horses: Ergot, bracken, horsetail, darnel, purple cockle, locoweed, water hemlock. Cattle: Ergot, bracken, darnel, purple cockle, cursed crowfoot, larkspur, locoweed, poison hemlock, water hemlock, water parsnip, laurel, white snakeroot, ragwort. |Sheep: Ergot, darnel, death camas, purple cockle, pasque flower, lupine, locoweed, poison hemlock, water hemlock, laurel, white snakeroot. Swine': Darnel, purple cockle, water hemlock. Poultry: Ergot, darnel, purple cockle, and other injurious seeds in screenings. ERGOT FAMILY {Hypocreacece) ERGOT OF RYE {Svermoedia Clavus{D.C.]¥Yi^s.) {Claviceps purpurea Tul.) Plate I. Common Names: Ergot of rye is generally known and spoken of as ergot; but occasionally in European literature, reference is found to ''spur kernels," ''blight kernels," and "spurred rye." Description: Ergot is a form of a fungus parasitic on grasses, one of the best known species being that found on rye. The fungus is most easily recognized in the second stage of its development, when the hard, dark purple or almost black masses (sclerotia) are seen at intervals on the heads of rye, where they have usurped the position of the seed of their host. These sclerotia, or ergots, as they are popularly called, may be observed from June till late in the autumn, according to the nature of the species of ergot and host plant. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and remain in a resting stage throughout the winter. When the warm weather begins again, they show signs of awakening life by the appearance of small cracks, through which diminutive stalked bodies (stromata) make their way. In the head of the stroma are numerous flask-shaped cavities (perithecia) each of which contains a number of narrow cells (asci) and each of these in its turn contains eight thread-like spores or reproductive bodies. The mature spores escape from the perithecia about the time of flowering of the host plant, rye or grass, as the case may be. When a spore falls into a floret of a suitable host plant, it develops a so-called mycelium, and a honey-like substance called "honeydew" is abundantly produced. The honeydew exudes in large glistening drops from the floret. This sweet substance, which is eagerly sought by midges, flies and other insects, is filled with very minute microscopic bodies (conidia), another reproductive form of the fungus. The conidia are capable of immediate germination and are carried by insects to other plants. Thus what is known as "ergot disease" spreads rapidly throughout the flowering season of its host. The mycelial threads continue to develop, and in time form a dark compact mass two or three times the size of the seed of the host plant. This new ergot eventually falls to the ground and the life cycle is complete. Distribution and Host Plants : Dr. Staeger, of Berne, Switzerland, has firmly established the fact that each species of ergot has its own circle of hosts within which it moves exclusively. He has shown by successful experiments carried on for a number of years past, that ergot of rye will infect barley and the following grasses: Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) ; Sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum L.) ; Sweet or holy grass {Hierochloe odorata [L.] Wahlenb.) ; Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis L.) ; Plate I. Ergot on grasses. Photo— F. Fylea. 63463—2 Tall oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius [L.J Beau v.) ; Orchard grass {Dactylis glomerata L.) ; Quaking grass {Briza media L.) ; Canadian blue grass (Poa compressa L.) ; Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis L.) ; Meadow fescue (Festuca elatior L.) ; Reed fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) ; Barren brome grass (Bromus sterilis L.) ;^ He has also shown that ergots grown on any of these grasses which have been infected by ergot of rye are in their turn capable of infecting rye and barley. This is a very important point for the agriculturist. For instance, if holy grass infected with ergot is left to mature, the ergots will drop to the ground and repeat their work in the spring. There will then be still fresh honeydew on the holy grass (which is early blooming) when the first heads of rye or barley come into bloom. The rye and barley may then be contaminated, and from them the honeydew will be borne to later-blooming fodder grasses, and so on through a continuous chain of harm. Poisonous Properties: The most important of the many constitu- ents lately isolated from ergot is the very highly potent alkaloid ergotoxine, which with other harmful principles causes a disease known as ergotism. Animals Affected: Ergot is poisonous to all domestic animals. Ewart states that "a comparatively small number of fresh ergot grains suffice to injure or kill a horse, cow, or sheep." It is a well-known cause of abortion. Human Poisoning: Human beings have been poisoned by ergot from very early days, chiefly, however, in those countries where rye bread is used. The ergot is ground up with the grain, and the flour is thus rendered unfit for food. Symptoms : The symptoms of ergot poisoning have been well described by J. H. McNeil, as follows: — ''Ergot stimulates the nerve centres that cause the contraction of the small blood vessels supplying the different parts of the body, and cause one of the two forms of ergotism, viz., a nervous form and a gangrenous form. ''Nervous Ergotism: In this form the contraction of the blood vessels of the brain produces dullness and depression. The animal also suffers from gastro-intestinal catarrh, refuses food, and gradually passes into a condition of general wasting. The nervous form, however, may assume an entirely different aspect, and the animal dies suddenly in delirium or spasms, or gradually from paralysis. ^ Ergot has been found on the following grasses in the West: Agropyron Smithii, Deschampsia ccespitosa, Agropyron tenerum, Agropyron repens, Calamagrostis hyperborea elongata, Bromus inermis. It is impossible to say, until further study has been made, whether this ergot is identical with the ergot of rye, or whether it may be one or more new species typical of the West. ''Gangrenous Ergotism: In this common form, the checking of the blood, resulting from the contraction of the small blood vessels, causes a loss of a part or of all the limb below the knee or hock, of the tail or the ears. The form of the disease may manifest itself by the formation of ulcers at the top of the hoof or between the toes, and a toe may be lost or the entire hoof shed. The affected part dries, a small furrow or line of separation appears, completely surrounding the limb, dividing the living from the dead mummified tissue." We are indebted to the Veterinary Director-General at Ottawa for the following reports of recent ergot poisoning in Alberta presented by one of his inspectors. Dr. W. H. McKenzie: — January 4, 1915. — I have inspected ninety head of cattle, twelve of which were suffering from ergotism. Necrosis of the inferior third of the tail, about one inch of the superior extremity of the ear, and both hind feet, was observed in one animal. In two others, both hind feet had sloughed off at the pastern joint, in another an indented ring circumscribing the hind leg about six inches above the fetlock joint, below which the tissue was gangrenous, in three one claw was absent. The other visibly affected animals exhibited swellings and lameness in one or both hind fetlocks. Animals had access to stacks of rye straw since about the first of November. Owner advises that first symptoms were observed on or about the first of December." Five animals had already succumbed to the effects of the poison before the inspection of Dr. McKenzie. Receiving information of a similar case in the same neighbourhood. Dr. McKenzie inspected thirty-four cattle. ''Six animals were found to be showing the effects of this poison, being lame, having enlarged fetlock joints, and showing a pronounced tendency to resume the recumbent position. The grain bins and rye stack were examined and a considerable quantity of ergot found. The animals in question had been fed on rye straw for about four weeks, and a slight lameness was first observed ten days ago. I was informed that a neighbour who fed rye to pregnant sows had 28 abortions. All rye straw was burned, and owner instructed to thoroughly clean the rye grain before feeding same." Remedy and Means of Control: In the case of ergot poisoning the best remedies are preventive. Care should be taken that no ergotised grain is sown. All grasses bearing ergot, wherever seen, should be cut and burnt. During the flowering season, there should be a vigilant search for heads showing the glistening honeydew. These infected heads should be gathered at once, taking care not to brush them against other grasses. Remember one drop of honeydew contains enough conidia to infect a whole acre of rye. Burn all ergotised hay, and clean thoroughly all barns and stalls where it has been stored. Should animals show symptoms of poisoning, their food should be changed at once, and the assistance of a veterinary surgeon should be procured. 63463— 2i Plate II. Bracken. Photo— F. Fyles. FERN FAMILY (Polypodiacece) BRACKEN {Pteris aquilina L.) (Pteridium aquilinum [L] Kuhn.) Plate II. Common Names: This plant is seldom known by any other name than common brake or bracken, sometimes modified to lady-bracken» fern-brake, or hog-brake. Description: The bracken is a coarse fern with a creeping, woody, almost black rootstock. The stalk of the frond or leaf is from one to three feet high, and the blade measures from one to three feet across by two to four feet in length. The stalk, with maturity, becomes straw-coloured, or brownish, stiff, stout, ridged, swollen at the base. The blade is dull green, the general outline triangular, the widely spreading branches twice pinnate. In the spring the young leaves are bent over at the top and curled in. The oblong obtuse lobes are strongly outlined by the reflexed margin which forms, in this case, a second indusium or covering to the spore-cases. As the spore-cases develop, they push aside the outer indusium and, fitted close together in several rows, they form quite a distinct golden-brown margin to the underside of each lobe. The spores, or reproductive bodies, are ready for dissemination from July to September. The spore- cases open with a snap, and the spores, light and easily carried by the wind, are scattered far and wide. When they reach the moist earth they germinate, but the germinated spores do not produce a true fern-plant. They give rise to another stage of its life, a small flat, green body (pro- thallus). On the underside of the prothallus are tiny organs whose union results in the development of a true fern-plant, which in its turn produces spores and thus completes the life cycle. Distribution: Common in thickets, on hillsides, and in sandy soil from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Poisonous Properties: The toxic principles of bracken have not yet been fully investigated, but it has been shown by experiment that the action of the poison is cumulative. Animals Affected : The experiments carried on by Hadwen in British Columbia (1917) proved that the ingestion of dried bracken was the cause of a disease among horses known as ''staggers." He says: ** During the hard winter of 1915-16 the mortality amongst horses in the Fraser valley and on Vancouver Island was very heavy. As an extreme instance we cite the following: 'In the little village of St. Elmo, B.C., out of twenty- four horses owned by eleven farmers, sixteen died of bracken poisoning, 10 four recovered, and the balance (four) did not take the disease.' The horses attacked are usually those that receive the minimum amount of care, but well-cared-for, greedy horses may contract the disease through eating their bedding, which often consists of bracken which has been left in their mangers." Hadwen also reports the poisoning of two horses from eating green bracken in a pasture where other vegetation was scarce. One of the horses died. Chesnut and Wilcox (1901) state that ''Cases of poisoning of horses and cattle by this plant have been reported from England and from a few localities in the United States." Pott also refers to the poisoning of cattle by eating bracken in quantity. Stockman (1917) experimented with a bull-calf by feeding it freshly' cut bracken for a period of twenty-nine days. The calf was found dead on the thirtieth day. Symptoms: The first general signs of poisoning as given by Hadwen are, an unsteady gait, good appetite, animal inclined to constipation, eye congested, flanks tucked up, nervousness. In the later stages if the liead is raised the horse may fall. It stands with the legs spread, and has a distinctly intoxicated look. Greedy horses are most liable to attack. Mueller, in reference to fatal poisoning among horses, gives the symp- toms as timidity, slower movement or action, loss of balance, dilated pupils, reddening followed by yellowing of the conjunctivae, and slowing of the pulse. % Remedy and Means of Control: In all cases of poisoning, profes- sional advice should be obtained. The treatment recommended by Hadwen to the farmer who is unable ifco obtain such aid is as follows: First remove all ferny hay and bedding. Give a quart of raw linseed oil, taking especial care that none falls into the lungs. Give good clean hay, warm bran mashes, and roots. The horse should be kept as quiet as possible, owing to its nervous excitability. Warmth is of aid in combatting the affection, whilst a cold, draughty stable tends to lower the vitality. Ploughing- a^^ manuring is one of the best methods of exterminating bracken. The deep-lying rootstocks will not all be destroyed the first year, but after two or three years of thorough cultivation, very few if any will be found. On steep hillsides and pastures where tillage would be out of the question, cutting the green tops off will in time starve the rootstocks, particularly if a good dressing of lime is applied to the soil immediately after the cutting. The lime serves as a check to the bracken and also as an encouragement to the growth of grasses. In regard to the best time for cutting, Thomas Tusser wrote in 1557: — " In June and in August, as well doth appeere Is best to mowe Brakes of all times of the yeere." THE GOLD THAT KNOWS NO MISER'S HOLD It's the yellow kingscup— or the Ibvely, laughing marsh marigold. Like spilled sun- shine In the damp, low places. Its leaves are so shiny they look varnished. The petals are shiny, too. It's beautiful in old copper vases, In shadowy nooks of your library. Its treasure is,surely "The gold that lifts, not weighs us down. The gold that banks not in the town, But singing, laughing, freely spills It's hoard far up the happy hills — Far up, far down, at every turn — What beggar has not gold to burn? (Joaquin Miller) ^e one a lew seea poas (ff one admires e result of his gardening activities), or en at times a few plants. It may seem at one must be possessed of endless itience to have a perennial border, but in e long run one's patience is amply warded. There is joy in a well-planned border, iauty to satisfy the soul, and health in the Dseness and communion of Mother arth. What is more, it pays dividends that it doubles and trebles itself every ;ar. Try one and see ! nnual Flowers Recommended for Fragrance or Scent Alyssum Sweet Pea Carnations or Pinks Sweet Sultan Marvel of Peru Stocks Mignonette Verbena Nicotine Marigold f Phlox Scabiosa tSome people may find the scent of this )wer rather strong. Perennials Recommended for the Same Purpose Peonies Dianthus Lily of the Valley Chrysanthe- mum Roses Phlox t Lilacs Lilies t Tulips Iris fSome varieties are scented. {Continued on page 102} greater charity work, but find yc work handicapped through lack funds? Whatever the effort you have mind, the money would undoubte( be welcome. We have a plan wh will help you raise the necessj funds. Write THE TRANS-CANADA NEWS C Association Division 210 DuNDAs St. W., Toronto, O misE. For Your ' i* Murine relieves f relaxes tired, I: %ing eyes. Clea ^|and soothes dened, irriti eyes. Easi use. For a or Infants. ^ Murine dai 11 HORSETAIL FAMILY {Equisetacece) COMMON OR FIELD HORSETAIL (Equisetum arvense L.) Plate III (To face page 12). Common Names: Among the popular names of horsetail are the following, which are typical and descriptive: pine-top, meadow-pine, scouring rush, bottle brush, snake-pipes, jointed rush, and cornfield horse- tail. Description: The horsetails or scouring rushes are a group of perennial plants intermediate between the ferns and club-mosses. Like the ferns they possess a moi;iii^less branching, creeping rootstock which persists from year to year and sends out new shoots each year. The rootstock of the field horsetail develops also short tuber-like branches, which act as storehouses of reserve material. As in some of the ferns, the rootstock sends up two distinct kinds of leaf-shoots, a fertile and a sterile shoot, each of which is distinctly jointed and hollow. The fertile stems, which bear the spores, or reproductive bodies, appear early in May, before the sterile or vegetative shoots have yet unfolded. They are from four to ten inches high, usually unbranched, light-brown, with darker brown, scale-like leaves arranged in circles at each joint or node. At the apex of each fertile stem is a group of sporophylls known as the cone, from which the spores fall to the ground and produce new plants. The spores are round, and each is furnished with two spiral bands or elaters (so attached as to appear to be four) which assist in its dispersal. The sterile stems are from four to twenty inches high, bright green, grooved, with angled, solid branches. Distribution: The field horsetail is native to Canada, and is found in gravelly or sandy soil from Newfoundland to Alaska. Poisonous Properties: The harmfulness of field horsetail has for many years been the subject of much discussion and difference of opinion, but in Canada it was found to be the cause of much loss (see Dominion Expierimental Farms Reports 1910, p. 200, 1912, p. 210-11.) The toxic principle has not been determined. Animals Affected: Horses suffer most from eating this weed in the hay, particularly young horses. It is also known to be injurious to sheep, but there is a difference of opinion as to its effect upon cattle. The weed does not appear to be as poisonous when eaten in a green state. This may be due to the laxative properties of other fresh food eaten at the same time, or to the fact that the plant is not as common in pastures as in meadows and, in consequence, is not eaten to the same extent. Animals grazing in pastures containing horsetail, should be watched and removed from the field of danger at the first symptoms of poisoning. 12 Symptoms: The first general symptoms are a certain excitement, unthriftiness, diarrhoea, good appetite; later, staggering gait, partial loss of motive power, craving for the weed, pulse accelerated, respiration difficult, sometimes convulsions and death or a state of unconsciousness and coma. Sometimes the attack is very acute, death occurring in a few hours; usually, however, the disease lasts from a few days to several weeks. Remedy and Means of Conteol: The first and most important thing to h£ done is to change the food. Remove all hay and bedding containing equisetum. Administer a purgative, as raw linseed oil or aloes, to remove any undigested portion of the plant, and give stimulants, camphor, or powdered nux vomica with grain feed three times a day. Blisters along the spine are beneficial (Friedberger and Frohner). In severe cases, slings should be used to support the animal before it loses the power to stand. If this treatment is begun in time, the animals will recover in practically all cases. This weed may be held in control by draining, enriching, and culti- vating the ground. It thrives best in sandy or gravelly soil that is wet in the spring and early summer, or where the underlying water is not far from the surface of the soil. Good drainage and good cultivation will eventually exterminate it as, although the rootstocks lie lower than the depth of ordinary cultivation, they will starve if the green food-producing shoots are kept cut. ::fiu1i;=^- fii^ld Horse-tail a' sterile stem, b 'Fertile 13 GRASS FAMILY (Gramineae) DARNEL {Lolium temulentum L.) Plate IV. Common Names: Darnel is also called poison-darnel, white darnel, bearded darnel, and tare. The French name for it is "Ivraie," derived from "tVre'' meaning drunken, as when brewed with barley it acts as an intoxicant. Description: Darnel is an annual grass. It has smooth simple stems from two to four feet high. The leaf blades are four to ten inches long and about one-quarter inch wide, rough on the upper surface and smooth oh the lower. The flower spike is four to twelve inches long, with four to eight flowers to each spikelet, which fits tightly into a slight curve on either side of the stalk. The seed is about the size of a small grain of wheat, it is rounded at each end, with a shallow groove on the inner surface, and is closely covered by two scales, the outer one usually possessing a short awn. The kernel itself is greenish, tinged with brown or purple. It is in bloom from June to August. Darnel is very closely related to English and Itahan rye grasses, but may be readily distinguished from both in having no leafy shoots from the base, and consequently it does not grow in tufts or bunches. Distribution: Introduced from Europe, it is now scattered through- out Canada on cultivated ground and waste places in New Brunswick, the Prairie Provinces and on the Pacific coast. Poisonous Properties: The injurious effect of darnel has been recognized since early scriptural days, as there is no doubt it was really the tares which the enemy sowed among the wheat. There are also manj'- references to it in the classics; Ovid says ''Let the fields be clear of darnel that weakens the eyes." It is referred to in one of Shakespeare's plays as spoiling the bread, and in the same connection Gerarde (1597) says: ''The new bread wherein darnell is, eaten hot, causeth drunkenness; in like manner doth beere or ale wherein the seede is fallen, or put into the mault." The toxic principle seems to be only in the seed or grain itself, and has been determined as a narcotic alkaloid temuline, which Hofmeister has shown to be a strong nerve poison. Other authorities give different toxic principles, and some refer the cause of injury to a fungus which infests the seed. Esser concludes that according to most authorities who have investigated darnel the fungus alone contains the toxic substance — the temuline — and hence the grains in which the fungus does not occur should be harmless. H. C. Long, in referring to Esser's work, says: "So far as Plate IV. // y!^?.txj^^ tf^i^^-e-^-c?^ Darnel. Photo— F. Fylea. 15 can be ascertained, there have been no feeding experiments to determine the difference in toxic character between fungus-infested and fungus-free grains. The dangerous properties are said to be most pronounced in wet seasons." Animals Affected: The "Veterinarian," 1842, reports the poisoning of pigs from eating darnel mixed with barley. FataHties among horses and sheep have been recorded by Johnson and Sowerby (1861). Cornevin gives the amounts of darnel necessary to kill certain animals as follows: — Horse 0.7 pounds per 100 pounds live weight Ruminants 1 .5 to 1 .8 pounds per 100 pounds live weight Poultry 1 . 5 to 1 . 8 pounds per 100 pounds live weight Dog 1.8 pound per 100 pounds live weight Human Poisoning: The chief danger to human beings lies in the difficulty of sifting darnel from wheat and other cereals of much the same sized grain. Ground up with the flour in this way, it has caused many cases of human poisoning, although not fatal. A case is quoted by Johnson and Sowerby in which eighty inmates of Sheffield workhouse (England) were affected with violent vomiting and purging after eating oatmeal containing darnel. Symptoms: Darnel poisoning induces giddiness, drowsiness, uncertain gait, and stupefacation (Mueller), and in the older animals, vomiting, convulsions, loss of sensation, and death (Pott). The symptoms in the horse are dilation of the pupils, vertigo, uncertain gait, and trembling. The animal falls, the body is cold and the extremities are stiff, respiration is laboured, the pulse is slow and small, and there are convulsive movements of the head and limbs. There is rapid enfeeblement, and death may occur within thirty hours. In pigs, foaming, convulsions, and paralysis have been observed: the stomach and intestines were inflamed and the lungs congested (H. C. Long). Remedy and Means of Control: As darnel is an annual grass it should be weeded out before it goes to seed. Badly infested crops should be cut green and used as hay. Land upon which the seeds have already fallen, should not again be used for grain until the rotation has included some hoed crops. GRASSES CAUSING MECHANICAL INJURIES. Plate V. The long barbed seeds and twisted awns of the porcupine grass (Stipa spartea Trin.) and the needle grass (S. comata Trin. & Aupr.) sometimes cause serious injury and even death to domestic animals. Sheep are the greatest sufferers, as the seeds are easily caught by their wool, and finally penetrate the skin and flesh. '^ Plate V. Photo— P. Fyles. Grasses causing mechanical injury. 17 The spines of the sand-bur {Cenchrus tribuloides L.) and the bristles of the foxtail grasses and millets (Setaria sp.) are also of an injurious nature. The sharply-pointed and awned seeds of squirrel-tail grass or wild barley {Hordeum juhatum L.) cause inflammation and ulcerating sores in the mouths of horses and cattle. A case was mentioned by Hadwen of two bloodhounds who suffered severely with ulcerated sores and swelUngs in the throat caused by getting these seeds in the mouth. Wild oats (Avena fatua L.) possess similar barbed and awned seeds, which become embedded between the teeth of animals, and cause inflam- mation. 18 ARUM FAMILY (Araceae) JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT {Arisaema triphyllum [L.] Torr.) Plate VI, Common Names : The Jack-in-the-Pulpit is also known as the Indian- turnip, three-leaved arum, dragon-turnip, devil's ear, bog-onion, and starch-wort. Description: It is a perennial plant from eight inches to three feet high. It usually bears two leaves, sometimes only one. Each leaf has three leaflets, oval, pointed, smooth, entire or sometimes waved at the margins. The so-called ''flower" is not only one flower, but is made up of a number of very small flowers arranged around a central axis (spadix) surrounded by a large, sheathing, coloured bract called the spathe. The spadix is popularly known as the ''Jack" and the spathe forms his "pulpit." The spathe is pale green, striped with reddish-brown or purple, and is bent over at the top. The spadix is also green and purple, rounded at the top and narrowed at the base, where it is surrounded by the small flowers. In the autumn, the bright scarlet bunch of berries, with the withered spadix and spathe still attached, is quite as conspicuous as the Jack is in the early summer. The underground portion of the plant consists of a round, wrinkled, greyish-brown starchy corm, with a number of rootlets from the upper surface. It is found in bloom in the spring and early summer. Distribution: Jack-in-the-Pulpit is very common in low, rich woods throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. It is a native of Canada. Poisonous Properties: The plant contains acrid properties. The corm is very poisonous. It is held that the acridity disappears with roasting or boiling. No doubt it was used by the Indians, but it is safer for the white man not to try experiments. Pammel says the corm of the Indian-turnip is so extremely acrid that a decoction made from it has been used to kill insects. Green-Dragon {Arisaema Dracontium [L.] Bchott.) Arum Family. The green-dragon is a near relative of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and posesses similar acrid qualities. It may be distinguished by its solitary leaf, which is characteristically cut into seven to eleven oblong pointed leaflets, and by its long tapering spadix and pointed green spathe. It is found on low grounds in Ontario. It flowers in June. Plate VI. ^6««-''4--ex4£^ Jack-in-the-pulpit . I'kolu — h . t [iitK. 20 Arrow Arum {Peltandra virginica [L.] Kunth.) Arum Family. The arrow arum is a stemless plant found in shallow water in Ontario. It has arrow-shaped leaves, a long green spathe, green berries and thick, fibrous roots. The berries are poisonous. Water Arum (Calla palustris L.) Arum Family. This plant of bogs and shallow waters is sometimes called "the wild calla" because of its resemblance and close relation to the well-known cultivated calla. It is a low perennial with a long creeping rootstock bearing long-stalked, heart-shaped leaves, and a solitary scape. It has a short spadix and a white spathe almost as wide as long. The berries are bright red, subtended by the dried white spathe. This plant, which is native to Canada from Nova Scotia to Hudson Bay, also contains poisonous properties. The rootstock is particularly acrid. SKUNK CABBAGE (Symplocarpusfoetidus[L.]'Nutt.) Arum Family. {Spathyema foetida [L.] Raff. ) Common Names : The skunk cabbage is known by a variety of names, the most familiar being polecat-weed, swamp-cabbage, clump-foot cabbage, stinking poke. Description: It is a perennial herb with a very strong, disagreeable odour. The short, broad spathe appears very early in the spring before the leaves. The spathe is swollen, thick, leathery, pale-green, closely- streaked and spotted with purple or reddish brown, pointed, enveloping the short, round spadix covered with small purple flowers. The leaves, which appear much later, are large, bright green, heart-shaped, short- stalked, veiny, and clustered on the short ridged stem. The spadix enlarges in fruit, and the round seeds are imbedded. Distribution: The skunk cabbage is a native of Canada, and is found in bogs and moist land from Nova Scotia to Ontario. Poisonous Properties: The whole plant contains acrid and noxious properties and has a strong, unpleasant odour. Cattle avoid it. Western Skunk Cabbage {Lysichiton camtschatcense Schott.) The skunk cabbage of British Columbia is a very conspicuous plant at all times of the season; in the springtime by its large bright yellow spathe, in the summer by its leaves mostly three feet long and over a foot wide, and in the autumn by its long, stalked, large head of fruit. 21 LILY FAMILY (Liliaceae) ZVGADENUS OR DEATH CAMAS (Zygadenus venenosus Rydb. ) {Toxicoscordion gramineum Rydb) Plate VII. Fig. B. Common Names: Zygadenus is popularly known by a great variety of names, death camas being, perhaps, the most familiar. Other common names are poison-onion, poison-lily, poison-sego, camass, hog's-potato, mystery-grass, alkali-grass, soap-plant, squirrel-food, and lobelia. The last mentioned should not be used as it causes confusion with another poisonous plant, the Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata L.). Description: The death camas is one of the spring and summer flowers of the West. It is an erect, perennial herb growing from a coated bulb. The leaves are grass-like, long, narrow, and keeled, so much resem- bling the leaves of a grass or sedge that they are often overlooked in the search for poisonous plants. The flowers are arranged in an elongated cluster or raceme^ simple or 1: ranched, at the top of the central flower-stalk, which is from ten to twenty inches high, rising above the leaves. The flowers are numerous, small, about one-quarter inch in diameter, yellowish or greenish white, each subtended by a leaf-like bract which is shorter than the slender stalk. The flowers bloom from about the middle of May to the end of July, but the flowering period varies with the season and altitude. The seeds ripen in their three-parted erect capsules in July and August, and germinate the following spring, producing the bulb and leaves only during the summer. The flowering stalk appears the year after. The plants grow more or less as scattered individuals, but sometimes in large masses or patches. These patches of the flowering plants are easily distinguished, even at some distance, by their peculiar greenish-yellow colour. Distribution: Zygadenus rrows abundantly on many of the stock ranges of the West. It is found generally distributed from Saskatchewan to British Columbia. It is native to Canada. Poisonous Properties : The poisonous principle of death camas is an alkaloid, zygadenine, allied to veratrine, which is found in all parts of the plant. The toxicity of the flowering tops and the bulbs is about the same, but the seeds are much more toxic than other parts of the plant. Cases of poisoning, however, are more liable to occur early in the season, before the plants are in flower, as at that time the fresh green leaves are most tempting to stock, long depriv :d of green food. After seeding, the plant withers. Animals Affected: In rt 3rence to death camas, T. N. Willing says: ''Large numbers of sheep havt been affected in the early summer by the prevalence of this weed (in sou hern Alberta) amongst the grass on which 63463—3 22 they were grazing." It was proved by the United States Department of Agriculture that cattle and horses were also poisoned by zygadenus, but under ordinary conditions they did not consume sufficient quantity to cause death. The ''fatalities were almost entirely confined to sheep." Symptoms : According to Chesnut and Wilcox, the first signs of poison- ing are "a. certain uneasiness and irregularity in the movements of the sheep. These irregularities rapidly become more and more pronounced, accompanied by inco-ordination of the muscular movements, spasms and rapid breathing. Although sheep are highly excited under the influence of zygadenus poisoning, the cerebral symptoms seldom constitute a con- dition of frenzy. It was readily observed that until a few minutes before death, ewes were able to recognize their lambs, and indicate in other ways that they were not in any sense crazed. The later symptoms were those of complete motor paralysis, combined with an exceedingly rapid and sharp breathing and a frequent weak pulse. The duration of these different stages of poisoning varies to a considerable extent, and depends entirely upon the amount of death camas which the sheep have eaten." The principal symptoms are given by Marsh and Clawson as ''sali- vation, nausea, muscular weakness, coma, and sometimes attacks of dyspnoea." In general, the symptoms in horses and cattle are similar to those shown by sheep. Remedy and Means of Control : Medical remedies have been found of little use, as most of the cases are discovered too late for treatment. Rest and quiet are recommended. To prevent loss, it is important to recognize the plant and to avoid pasturing sheep upon it. Hargrave, however, has obtained good results, by the use of permanganate of potash and aluminum sulphate administered in the very early stages of poisoning. He says "that for some years past sheepmen in the Walsh District, Alberta, have looked upon potassium permanganate and aluminum sulphate as almost specific in sheep poisoned with this plant, and, especially in cases recognized early, recovery follows in every instance. Some years ago the plant was so plentiful over the range that sheep herders were kept supplied with powders containing five grains of each, and carried with them a pint bottle so that on recognizing any sheep showing effects of poisoning, they at once dissolved the powder in a bottleful of water and immediately administered it as a drench. Very rarely was it necessary to administer the second dose." In restricted areas, the weed may be exterminated by putting the land under cultivation for a time. After the spring rains, when the ground is soft, the bulbs may be readily pulled, and where the weed is less abundant it would be well worth while to incur the expense of hand-pulling. 23 SMOOTH CAMAS {Zygadenus chloranthus Rich.) Lily Family. (Anticlea elegans [Pursh] Rydb.) Plate VIII. Common Names: Smooth camas is also known by other common names, the most familiar being swamp-camas, cow-grass, green lily. Description: It is a much more attractive plant than the death camas. It grows to a height of one to three feet, with much larger flowers and leaves. The leaves, stalks, and bracts are of a whitish-green colour, the bracts sometimes tinged with red or purple. The flowers are greenish white or cream coloured, from one-half inch to nearly one inch broad. The perianth leaves are six, each with a large, green, heart-shaped gland at the base. The stamens are B^ six, their stalks erect about the ovary and the three stigmas. The flowers are in bloom about two weeks later than death camas. Distribution: Smooth camas is more confined to wet ground and calcareous soils. It is widely distributed, occurring from New Brunswick and Quebec to Manitoba and westward to British Columbia and the Yukon. Animals Affected: Apparently all species of zygadenus are poison- ous to animals, and contain the same poisonous alkaloid zygadenine. There is not, however, the same likelihood of serious loss among sheep, as smooth camas does not grow so abundantly in any one area and its period of growth is somewhat later in the season, when other herbage is prevalent and more tempting. Human Poisoning: According to Marsh and Clawson, cases of poisoning have occurred among children who have eaten the bulbs in mistake for those of the edible camas, i. e. species of Calochortus and Camassia. FALSE HELLEBORE (Veratrum viride Ait.) Lily Family. Plate VII. Fig. A. (See facing p. 20.) Common Names: Veratrum is commonly known as American white hellebore, Indian poke, deviFs-bite, crow-poison, itchweed, and iswamp- hellebore. Description: False hellebore is a tall coarse perennial plant, from a foot and a half to eight feet in height. The stem grows from a short, thick, erect rootstock, and is leafy^ to the top. The leaves are broadly oval, plaited, strongly parallel-veined, entire, pointed, sheathing at tho base, smooth on top, hairy beneath, six to twelve inches long, three to six inches broad, the upper becoming smaller and narrower. The inflorescence is a compound panicle from eight inches to two feet in length, the lower branches spreading or somewhat drooping. The numerous flowers are of 63463— 3i Plate VIII. Photo-F. Fylea. Smooth Camas. 25 a dull, yellowish-green colour, one-half to one inch broad; the perianth consists of six segments, with one stamen opposite each segment. The capsule is three lobed and three celled, containing numerous flat, winged seeds. The plant is found in bloom sometimes as early as May, but usually throughout June, July, and August. Distribution: False hellebore is found in low lands, swamps, wet woods, and on moist slopes in Eastern Canada. It ascends to high alti- tudes in British Columbia, but it is best developed in mountain valleys. Poisonous Properties: The whole plant is more or less poisonous, especially the short, thick rootstock, and coarse, fibrous roots. It contains an active poison known as veratrine, which belongs to the narcotic irritant group of poisons. Animals Affected: False hellebore is poisonous to all animals. Cattle and horses avoid eating it wherever possible, as they do not relish the acrid, burning taste of the fresh plant; but young animals sometimes eat it, with fatal results. A. W. Sampson says that sheep eat it with impunity after a severe frost. Human Poisoning: As false hellebore is used in the preparation of certain medicines, cases of poisoning have occurred from overdoses. Accidental poisoning of man from eating the plant has also been reported. In one case a whole family was poisoned by using the young leaves as greens in mistake for those of the marsh marigold {Caltha palustris L.). However, fatalities among human beings are rare, as the drug induces spontaneous vomiting. The hairy leaves are very irritating to the skin, and children often suffer by coming in contact with them. Symptoms: In general the symptoms of poisoning are salivation, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, cold perspiration, depression of the heart, loss of sight, and finally death from paralysis of the heart. Remedy and Means of Control: Professional advice should be obtained wherever possible. Treatment should be pursued by heart stimulants, such as alcohol or ammonia, and the external application of warmth. Demulcents, such as raw linseed oil, are given to relieve local irritation of the digestive organs. Young animals should be given warm water to assist vomiting and to wash out the stomach. Rest and quiet should be enforced. The roots of false hellebore should be grubbed out in the early spring when the ground is soft. Where the land is badly overrun by this weed, drainage and cultivation is the best method. In all cases seeding should be prevented by cutting off the tops when the plant is in its first bloom. On large areas of mountainous districts, cutting or grubbing would seem impracticable. Such infested land should not be used as a pasture. A. W. Sampson contends that sheep may be pastured on such land in the autumn, after the tops have been frozen and when the ground is hard enough to prevent the poisonous rootstock from being pulled up. 26 IRIS FAMILY (Iridacece) Blue Flag (7ns versicolor L.) Common Names: The blue flag is also known as the wild iris, poison- flag, water flag, fleur-de-lis, flower-de-luce. Description : The blue flag is an erect, perennial herb from one to two feet high, springing from a thick, fleshy, horizontal rootstock. The flowers are from three to four inches across, violet blue variegated with yellow, green and white towards the centre, with purple markings. The three outer parts of the perianth are larger than the three inner, upright, narrow ones. The three stamens are concealed under the style branches. The leaves are bluish-green, sword-shaped, overlapping. The seed-capsule is upright, oblong, with a stout beak splitting into three pockets containing many reddish-brown seeds somewhat three-cornered and flattened. The flowers are in bloom in May and June, sometimes even in July. Distribution: The blue flag is native to Canada, and is found from Newfoundland to Manitoba in wet places, along the borders of streams and shallow waters. Poisonous Properties: The rootstock is poisonous. It contains the acrid, resinous substance irisin or iridin. When eaten, it produces nausea, vomiting, purging, and pain. It is often mistaken for the sweet flag {Acorus Calamus L.) which is not poisonous, and is masticated by some people as a cure for indigestion. When in flower, the two plants are so dissimilar that they could never be taken for one another, but in the autumn when the roots are gathered, nothing remains of the upper portion of the plants. Even then, however, they may be distinguished by their bdour, the sweet flag being pleasant aromatic, while the blue flag is unpleasant and nauseous. 27 NETTLE FAMILY (Urticacece) SLENDER NETTLE (Urtica gracilis Ait.) Plate IX. Common Names : The only other English name that seems to be given this species is tall wild nettle. Description: The slender nettle is an erect perennial from two to seven feet high. The stem, which is usually simple, though sometimes branched, is armed with stinging hairs. The leaves are opposite, hairy, with slender bristly stalks, long pointed, usually rounded at the base, with sharply toothed margins. The small greenish-white flowers are arranged in compound clusters. The plants bloom in summer. Distribution: The slender nettle is common along fence rows, waste places, and moist ground generally, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: The nettles are not usually numbered among the poisonous plants, but they cause what is known as the "nettle rash^' which is unpleasant enough to be avoided. As Pammel says, "it is an inflammatory disorder with a burning and itching sensation. It may come out in large or small patches, remaining for a few minutes or several hours." Chesnut reports that hundreds of acres of land in Michigan and Wisconsin were made worthless by the dense growth of this species, and that horses refused to pass through it to cultivate the soil. He also says, "the stinging hairs of a closely related species, U. holosericea were the cause of the death of several horses in California in April, 1900." OTHER species OF NETTLE. The following species in Canada are equally injurious to the skin, and cause severe irritation and burning wherever they come in contact with it: The stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.), the western nettle {U. Lyallii Wats.), the dwarf nettle (U. mens L.), and the wood nettle {Laportea canadensis [L.] Gaud.). Plate X. Remedy and Means of Control: The burning and irritation of the skin may be relieved by the application of diluted alcohol. The nettles are best kept in control by cultivation. Where tillage is impracticable, close and continued cutting during the summer is advised. Salt may be applied to check the new growth. In small patches the root- stocks should be grubbed out and burned, as well as any tops bearing seeds. Plate IX. ■^^mw:Tm'm^w&^f£^^mM /'•.- .J.- Slender Nettle. Photo— F. Fyles. Plate X. ^^^v^ej Wood Nettle Fkoto—F. FyUs. oCc:c^/i^-\j4^ Sc^L^^UA^^^ ci^i-*^<» 30 POKEWEED FAMILY {Phytolaccacece) POISON POKE ) Phytolacca decandra L. ) [Phytolacca americana L. ) Plate XI. Common Names: Poison poke is sometimes called scoke, pokeweed. pigeon-berry, and garget. Description: It is a tall, stout, evil-smelling, perennial herb from six to nine feet high, with rich green foliage turning red in the autumn. The leaves are four to six inches long and two to three inches wide, petioled, pointed at both ends with entire margins. The veins start from the midrib and meet in scallops near the margin. The flowers are small, numerous in long racemes, with white calyx and green seed-vessel soon changing to the crimson calyx and deep purple berries of September and October. The seeds are black, brightly shining, arranged in a circle in the berry. The root is large, pale, dull yellow, with uneven ridges at intervals. In older plants, the branches of the root become massed together consider- ably, each branch being often more than three inches in diameter. Distribution: Poison-poke is native to Ontario. It is found on low ground and rich soil. Poisonous Properties: All parts of the plant contain acrid and somewhat narcotic properties. The juice of the plant will cause skin irritation. The root is very poisonous; in it are found a toxic substance phytolaccotoxin, an acrid alkaloid phytolaccine, saponin, and other injurious constituents. The fruit is also extremely poisonous. The young leaves lose their acridity when boiled, and are sometimes used as spinach. Animals Affected: Cattle have been poisoned by eating the fresh young shoots, in places where the plant is growing abundantly. Human Poisoning: Most cases of human poisoning have been acci- dental, either in overdoses of medicine or in mistaking the root for that of horse-radish or parsnip. Fatal cases of poisoning of children from eating the fruit have been reported by Chesnut. Symptoms: Poison-poke is a very powerful, although slow-acting emetic. Vomiting does not usually begin until after two or more hours. The symptoms are: nausea, vomiting, spasms, severe purging, and some- times death from paralysis of the respiratory organs. Remedy and Means of Control: Professional advice should be obtained. The plants should be grubbed out. If the roots and berries are not sold as drugs, care should be taken to destroy them entirely. Where cutting off would seem more practicable, coarse salt, carbolic acid, or coal-oil should be applied to the cut surface of the root to check new growth. Plate XI. Poison Poke. Pkoto-F. FyUt, 32 PINK FAMILY (Caryophyllacece) PURPLE COCKL'E—iAgrostemma Githago L.). Plate XII. ^ccp:27'20.) Common Names: The purple cockle is also popularly known as corn cockle, corn rose, and corn campion. Description: Agrostemma means ''the-crown-of-the-field." The richly coloured flowers waving among the ears of grain deserve the name, but its aptitude is lost, no doubt, upon the busy farmer who sees only a certain loss to his crop. It is a tall annual or biennial introduced from Europe, one to three feet high, more or less covered with silky hairs. The leaves are two to five inches long, narrow, pointed, with entire margins. The flowers are purple, pale towards the centre, with dark markings, from one to two inches wide. The petals are five, shorter than the long, narrow, pointed, and hairy sepals. The ^eeds are about 1|8 inch in diameter, black or of such deep purple as to appear black, rough, with rows of short, close teeth. The plant is in flower from July to August. Distribution: Purple cockle was introduced into Canada from Europe, and is now scattered throughout the country in grain fields and along roadsides. Poisonous Properties: This weed, containing saponin, is poisonous both to animals and human beings. The seeds are most harmful. The seed capsules, being on a level with the heads of grain, and ripening at the same time, are cut and milled with the grain. Unless the wheat is very carefully screened, the flour is rendered unwholesome. The presence of the poison may be detected in lower grades of flour by its pecular odour, and even by remnants of the rough, black, seed-coat. Very dangerous results msiy follow the repeated use of even a small quantity of this flour, as it will produce a chronic disease known as '^githagism." Symptoms : The symptoms of chronic poisoning are : gradual depression, headache, nausea, diarrhoea, burning of the skin, los^ of vigour in muscular movements and breathing, sometimes followed by coma and death. Cornevin describes the symptoms in the acute form in the case of horses, cattle, and pigs. In the horse, if a small quantity only is taken, there is yawning, heavy colic, stamping and Evacuation of rather soft faeces. If larger quantities are taken, the symptoms, which commence in about an hour, are salivation, frequent yawning and turning of the head, colic, pale mucus, hurried and weak pulse, rise in temperature, and accelerated res- piration. Some time later there are muscular tremors succeeded (by pro- nounced rigidity, and the faeces are diarrhoeic and foetid. The animal lies down, and getting up is painful; it falls into a kind of coma, stretches itself to the utmost, and death takes place without convulsions. 'xiy cW^-4^Ui^r^ Poison Ivy. Pkota-F. FyU*. 64 Remedy and Means of Control: — Many remedies have been sug- gested to allay this burning and irritation, one of the simplest being the immediate washing of the parts affected with good strong yellow laundry soap. On return from a day's outing where there was danger of meeting with poison-ivy, the liberal use of such a soap might prevent much suffering, a piece might even be carried in the pocket. An application of absorbent cotton saturated with a solution of com- mon baking soda is simple and efficacious. In the case of severe poisoning the aid of a physician should be obtained. To properly eradicate this pest the underground root stocks must be destroyed as well as the flowering tops. Grubbing out and burning it by some one who is immune to the poison is the surest means. Spraying with hot brine, or caustic soda will kill it. One pound of caustic soda to two gallons of water has been found most effective. POISON SUMACH {Rhus Vernix L.) (Toxicodendron Vernix (L.) Kuntze) Cashew Family. Common Names: — ^The poison sumach is also well known as the swamp-sumac. It is erroneously called poison elder and poison dogwood. Description: — The poison sumach is a shrub or small tree from six to twenty feet high with long pinnate leaves bearing seven to thirteen leaflets. The -leaflets are about two to four inches long and from one to one and a half inches wide, green on both sides, with reddish stalks and midribs. The margins are entire. The flowers are small, green, in long, loose, open, slender panicles. The fruit is smooth, round, greenish or dun coloured. The shrub is very attractive in the autumn, when the leaves change to very brilliant shades of scarlet and orange. The flowers are out in June. The harmless sumacs may be very readily distinguished by their i^ed fruits. Distribution :^It is a native of Canada, and is found on low wet ground and in swamps, in Ontario. Poisonous Properties: — Similar to the poison-ivy, but even more dangerous. Fortunately this species is not very common in Canada. 65 MEZEREUM FAMILY {Thymelaeacece) WICOPY {Birca palustris L.) Plate XXV. Common Names: — This plant, so useful to the North American Indians, retains some of their original names, as leatherwood, moosewood, swaxnpwood, rope-bark. Description: — The wicopy is a much-branched shrub from two to six feet high, with smooth, jointed, yellowish-green twigs and tough fibrous bark. Like the mezereon, it produces its small clustered flowers very early in the spring before the leaves have expanded. The calyx is petal- like, pale yellow, tubular, with a wavy or slightly four-toothed margin showing the protruding stamens and style. The flowers grow in clusters of three or four and are protected from cold winds by dark hairy scales which look like folds of fur around the silky yellow calyces. There is no mistaking it when in flower, especially as it is one of the earliest shrubs to bloom. The leaves are oval, two to three inches long, alternate and very short-stalked. The reddish, oval drupe is about one-half inch long. The plant is in bloom in April. Distribution: — It is a native of Canada and grows in damp, rich woods from New Brunswick to Ontario. Poisonous Properties: — The bark contains poisonous properties similar to its relative mezereon (which see) and, when fresh, causes severe irritation to the skin, followed by blisters. All parts of the plant have a burning, nauseous taste. The poison is most powerful during flowering and fruiting. MEZEREON {Daphne mezereum L.) Mezereum Family. Common Names: — The popular names by which this poisonous plant is known include spurge-laurel, lady-laurel, paradise plant, mystery- plant, and dwarf bay. Description: — The mezereon is a small shrub from one to four feet high. It bears, in early spring before the leaves are out, strongly sweet- scented, rose-purple flowers clustered on the shoots of the preceding year. As it has no corolla, the brightly coloured, tubular calyx, with its four sepals outspread, lends attraction to its flowers. The leaves are long, narrow, tapering into short stalks. The fruit is a one-seeded berry or drupe, oval, one-quarter to one-third inch long, bright red. The plant is in bloom from April to May. Plate XXV, ^«;^A^ Wicopy, Photo— F. Fyles. 67 Distribution: — It is found in waste places and pastures where it has escaped from cultivation. It is locally established in Nova Scotia, western Quebec and Ontario. Poisonous Properties: — All parts of mezereon are acrid and pois- onous, especially the bark and berries. They contain an extremely acrid resin mezerein, a bitter poisonous glucoside daphnin, as well as a vesicating fatty oil. The bark has a persistent burning taste, and when freshly applied to the skin produces inflammation and blistering. As a rule animals reject the plant on account of its bitter taste. The abundant bright scarlet berries are very tempting to children. A fatal case of poison- ing was lately reported from Nova Scotia. The following from Anne Pratt's book will show that fatalities were not rare in the Old Country. "Death has resulted from eating but a few of these berries; and Dr. Christison relates a case of a child in Edinburgh who died from eating them, while another is recorded by Linnaeus of a young lady to whom twelve of the berries were given as a medicine in intermittent fever, and who soon died in consequence of their corrosive poison. Four berries produced thirst, sense of heat in the mouth and throat, and also fever, in a man who ate them, and they are proved to be poisonous to dogs and foxes." Even one berry chewed but not swallowed will produce intense burning in the throat and mouth, which lasts for several hours. Drying does not destroy the potent poison of this plant. Symptoms: — H. C. Long says: — ''The Daphnes are severely purgative, cause burning in the mouth and throat, and in severe cases have narcotic effects and give rise to convulsions. Lauder gives the symptoms as intense cohc, constipation, followed by dysentery and copious evacuations of faeces streaked with mucus, blood and intestinal epithelium. Drowsiness between the spasms. According to Mueller there is inflammation of the stomach and intestines (with colic, vomiting, severe diarrhoea, passing of blood), inflammation of the kidneys (with strangury, bloody urination), and in many cases nervous symptoms (weakness, giddiness, and convulsions). In a case observed by Lander, in the horse, there was abdominal pain, staggering gait, anxious countenance, laboured breathing, pulse 80, tem- perature 103-2° F., bowels normal. On the following day there was excessive purgation, pulse 120, temperature 104-2° F., and death occurred at mid-day." Remedy: — In the case of human poisoning an emetic may be given, followed by a soothing drink such as rice water, barley wajer, iced-milk, or white of egg beaten up in cold water while waiting for medical advice, which should be promptly summoned. 68 PARSLEY OR CARROT FAMILY {Umhelliferae) POISON HEMLOCK {Conium maculatum L.) Plate XXVI. Common Names: — This plant, known from early days as hemlock or wild hemlock, has a number of other common names, a few of which are snakeweed, spotted parsley, poison-root, wode-whistle. Description : — An erect, much-branched biennial with round, smooth, hollow stems from two to six feet high, covered with purplish spots which usually disappear on drying. The leaves are large, shining, decompound, with finely-cut leaflets, which have a very foetid and characteristic mousy odour when crushed. The leaves are much more delicate in outline than those of the water hemlock (cf. illustrations), the ultimate segments ending in a small, colourless, bristle-tip. The flowers are small, white, in large loose umbels, with a circle of bracts or small leaves at the base of the umbels. The fruit or ''seed" clusters, as they are popularly called, are conspicuous in late summer and autumn. Each fruit is composed of two parts, so close together as to resemble one round seed, somewhat flattened on each side, with wavy ridges running from top to bottom. Each part contains one seed, which is deeply grooved on the inner face. The root is from eight to ten inches long and about one inch in diameter, tapering, sometimes forked. It smells very much Hke the parsnip. The plant is in bloom from June to August. Distribution: — Naturalized from Europe, the poison hemlock is found in waste places, chiefly on dry ground from Nova Scotia to Ontario, also in British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: — It is a question as to which part of the plant is most poisonous, since authorities differ, but, as fatalities have resulted from the consumption of even a very small portion of the leaves or seeds or roots, it may well be said that the whole plant is deadly. It seems that early in the summer the poisonous properties are most abundant in the green leaves, and that later on the seeds are the most toxic, particu- larly just before ripening. As the poisons are volatile the plant loses its toxicity on drying, and consequently is not so dangerous to animals when dried with the hay. The seeds, however, are most poisonous when fully formed but still green in colour. When fully ripened their toxicity gradually diminishes. The plant contains the very poisonous alkaloid coniine, a colourless liquid which gives the plant the characteristic, disagreeable, mousy odour. The poisonous coniceine and the alkaloid methyl-coniine are also present, as well as other substances. Greenish states, ''Hemlock herb contains coniine and conhydrine. These alkaloids are present in both stem and Plate XXVI. t ,'^*t.v«- i;^-<.-«.^«— ^ Poison Hemlock. Pko:o—F. FyUa. 63463—6 70 leaves in largest quantity when the plant is in full flower." After flowering the alkaloids pass to the fruits and become concentrated in the partially ripened seed. Animals Affected: — Many cases of poisoning of domestic animals have been reported from the United States. The plant is evidently most injurious to stock early in the season, when its foliage is fresh and other herbage is scarce. Human Poisoning: — Poison hemlock is very well known historically as a plant of evil reputation. It was in all probability the plant used by the Greeks in the preparation of their poisonous draughts, and by which Socrates, Phocion, and others met their death. Fatalities have also occurred by mistaking the plant for some edible species. An old English herbalist says, ''If any, through mistake, eat the herb hemlock instead of parsley, or the root instead of parsnip, both of which is very likely, whereby happeneth a kind of perturbation of the senses, as if they were stupid and drunk, the remedy is, as Pliny saith, to drink of the best and and strongest pure wine, before it strikes to the heart, or gentian put in wine." The seeds have also been used in error for those of anise. Small boys nave been poisoned by making whistles out of the hollow stems of the plant. Symptoms: Hemlock has long been recognized as a very dangerous narcotic plant. H. C. Long says, ''Even the smallest quantities may cause inflammation of the digestive organs, paralysis, and death." The general symptoms, as given by Long, are salivation, bloating, dilation of pupils, rolling of eyes, laboured respiration, diminished frequency of breathing, irregular heart action, loss of sensation, convulsions, uncertain gait, falling, and, at the end, complete paralysis. Death occurs after a few hours. The poison acts on the motor nerve endings, causing paralysis, dyspnoea resulting from paralysis of the pectoral nerves, and acceleration of the heart from that of the inhibitory fibres of the pneumogastric. Small quantities cause in the horse a little prostration, yawning, acceleration of pulse, dilation of pupils, and sometimes muscular spasms of the neck and shoulders. Large quantities cause nausea, unsuccessful attempts to vomit, gritting of teeth, accelerated respiration and dyspnoea, and muscular tremors commencing in posterior members and spreading to anterior members and spine. There is next difficulty of locomotion, sweating (but not continual), falling, paraplegia, then paralysis, loss of feeling, lowering of temperature, rapid pulse, increasingly difficult respira- tion, and death from stoppage of respiration. With cattle there is excessive salivation, cessation of digestion, bloating, constipation, weakness, and stupor. The milk of cows who have eaten the weed has a disagreeable taste. Chesnut says in cows there is "loss of appetite, salivation, bloating, much bodily pain, loss of muscular power, and rapid, feeble pulse." 71 H. C. Long states that in sheep the abdomen is tucked up, the animal has a dazed appearance, there is dilation of pupils, unsteady gait, the hind limbs being dragged, coldness, and death after a few convulsive movements. In the pig there is prostration and inability to move, coldness, slow breathing, livid mucous membranes, imperceptible pulse, paralysis, parti- cularly of the posterior members, and no convulsions. Remedy and Means of Control: In the event of poisoning, profes- sional advice must be promptly summoned. While waiting for assistance the system should be relieved of the poison as soon as possible by use of an emetic. Stimulants may then be given, and warmth applied to the extremities. This weed should not be allowed to stand on any farm or roadside. It should be grubbed out and promptly destroyed. In no case should it be allowed to go to seed. WATER HEMLOCK {Cicuta maculata L.) Carrot Family. Plate XXVII. Common Names: Other significant names given to this plant are beaver-poison, spotted cowbane, musquash-root, snakeweed, and chil- dren's-bane. Description: The water hemlock is a tall perennial herb from three to six fept in height. The stem is stout and streaked with purple. The leaves are compound, but not so finely divided as in the poison hemlock (cf. illustrations). The leaflets are saw-toothed. The small white flowers are arranged in a compound umbel with no bracts at the base of the main umbel. There are slender bracts at the base of each lesser umbel or umbellet. The fruit is oval, with no groove on the inner face of the seed. The roots are several, fleshy, in the form of oblong tubers clustered at the base of the stem. If the base of the stem is cut lengthwise, a number of transverse partitions will be seen in greater or less contiguity according to the time of year and growth. The plant is in bloom from June to August. Distribution: Water hemlock, unlike poison hemlock, is found in wet places, in swamps, low ground, and along streams. Native of Canada, it is common from New Brunswick to British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: Of all the poisonous plants in Canada, the water hemlocks are the most deadly and act most rapidly. All species of cicuta are exceedingly poisonous both to human beings and animals. Although there is some difference of opinion as to the amount of toxicity in the upper portion of the plant, yet all agree the roots and swollen base of the stem are the most virulent. They are usually eaten by animals early in the season, when they offer an abundant green fodder. As they grow on wet, soft land, the roots are easily pulled up by stock when eating the herbage. The toxic principles are the alkaloid cicutine, with oil of cicuta and cicutoxine, a bitter resinous substance. 63463—61 Plate XXVII. Water Hemlock. Photo— F. Fyles. MS^^- 73 Animals Affected: No animals appear to be immune to the poisonous effect of this plant. Cattle and sheep, however, suffer most, as in grazing they pull the roots up and eat them as well. Hedrick says that a piece of root the size of a walnut was found by experiment to be sufficient to kill a cow. Death may occur in fifteen minutes, or the intense suffering may continue from two to several hours before death. One of our correspondents from Alberta writes: ''These are the plants (C. vagans) that killed the cattle in that neighbourhood, and the cattle would eat them and gnaw a hole in the ground like a bowl to get the roots, and then die right there. There were the bones of some of the cattle poisoned last year within ten feet of where these plants that I am sending you were growing." Human Poisoning: Cases of human poisoning are too numerous and too widespread to mention in detail. Different parts of the water hemlock have been eaten by mistake for edible plants, the roots especially being often mistaken for artichokes or sweet potatoes. The tubers are especially tempting to children on account of their sweetish taste. Symptoms: The first symptoms usually occur within two hours after eating the plant. There is nervousness, twitching of the muscles of the mouth and ears, salivation, sometimes nausea and vomiting, bloating, intense pain, frenzied movements, dilated pupils, spasms and convulsions, frothing at the mouth and nose, twisting the head and neck backwards, rolling of the eyeballs. The victim usually dies in the most violent spasms. BULBOUS WATER HEMLOCK {Cicuta hulhifera L.) Carrot Family. Plate XXVIII. Description: — -The bulbous water hemlock is a slender perennial plant, much branched, growing from one to three feet high. The leaves are divided two or three times into. narrow, saw-toothed leaflets. The upper leaves are less divided and bear small clustered bulblets in the angles formed by the leaf and stem. The white flower clusters are arranged in umbels similar to those of the other water hemlocks. The roots also are similar but seldom as large. It is in bloom from July to September. Distribution: — It is found in swamps and wet places from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: — This species and also the Western Water Hemlock {Cicuta vagans Greene) of British Columbia, contain the same poisonous principles as the preceding species and are equally dangerous to all stock. Plate XXIX. Remedy and Means of Control: — The poisonous substance of the water hemlocks is so rapid in its action that little or nothing can be done (xl Ci'<''i2^<^^'i'<»^ -ina^c^n- Plate XXVIII. Bulbous Water Hemlock. Photo— F. Fyles. ^ 76 in the way of remedial treatment. When poisoning has been discovered the animals are either dead or dying or in such excitement that any attempt at treatment tends to hasten death. In the case of human poisoning an emetic may be given at once and a physician summoned. All plants should be grubbed out and destroyed, or they may be readily pulled by hand in the spring when the ground is soft. On large areas where grubbing out seems impossible, the land should not be used as a pasture. WATER PARSNIP (Sium cicutaefolium Schrank) Carrot Family. Plate XXX. Common Names: — This plant is also known as the hemlock water- parsnip. Description: — The water parsnip is an erect, stout, branched per- ennial herb from two to six feet high. The lower leaves are long-stalked and the uppermost are nearly sessile. Sometimes a few of the lower leaves are submersed and finely dissected, but in general the leaflets are undivided, one and one-half to five inches long, narrow, sharply pointed and saw-edged. The umbels and umbellets of small white flowers are subtended by numerous narrow bracts. The fruit is oval and prominently ridged. It is in bloom from July to October. Distribution: — The water parsnip is a native of Canada. It is common in low, marshy land, swamps, and on muddy banks, across the continent. Poisonous Properties : — This plant has long been held as suspicious and it has been reported as ''antiscorbutic, diuretic and poisonous" by Hyams of North Carolina. Pammel says it has been reported as poisonous from several different sources. As far as is known the toxic principles have not been investigated, but there is no doubt that it is poisonous. One of our correspondents in Ontario recently lost several head of cattle from eating water parsnip. In writing of the effect of this plant upon his cows, he says: ''It seemed to affect the kidneys and back. First their water was red, then turned black as ink. They seemed to dry up. They did not bloat at all. Their milk dried up the first day." A similar case was reported from Saskatchewan. Plate XXX. 'Tl.ii^^fJ'u-^e^ W'ntor Parsnip. Photo— F. FyUa. 78 HEATH FAMILY (Ericacece) MOUNTAIN LAUREL {Kalmia latifolia L.) Common Names: — The most familiar of the EngHsh names are broad-leaved laurel, poison-laurel, sheep-laurel, spoonwood, calico-bush. Description: — The mountain laurel is one of our most attractive shrubs usually from three to six feet high, but in the Southern States it sometimes attains a height of thirty or forty feet. Its leaves are bright green on both sides, thick, with short stalks, flat and shining, oval, pointed at each end, entire. It has beautiful clusters of showy pink flowers with clammy stalks. The seed-capsule is round, hard, dry, clammy and many- seeded. The plant is in bloom from May to July. Distribution: — This native plant is found on rocky hills, pastures and mountain slopes from New Brunswick to Ontario. Poisonous Properties: — B. S. Barton (1798) says: — '' Nearly allied to the Rhododendron is the genus Kalmia. Of this we have several species, and all of them are poisons. The Kalmia Latifolia, or broad-leaved laurel, is best known to us. It kills sheep and other animals. Our Indians sometimes use a decoction of it to destroy them- selves." All parts of the plant except the wood contain the very poisonous constituent andromedotoxin. Many cattle and sheep are poisoned annually by it. Poisoning usually takes place in the spring when the animals, after the dry food of winter, are attracted by its evergreen foliage. Cases of human poisoning have been known from eating the honey from the flowers, or chewing the leaves in mistake for wintergreen. (Chestnut). Symptoms : The general symptoms as given by Chesnut for sheep, cows, and goats, are as follows: — ''Persistent nausea, with slight but long-continued vomiting and attempts to vomit, frothing at mouth, grating of teeth, irregular breathing, partial or complete loss of sight and feehng, dizziness, inability to stand, extreme drowsiness, coma and death" * * * ''In addition to most of the above effects, there is, in man, severe pain in the head, an increased tendency to perspire, and often a peculiar tingling sensation in the skin throughout the entire body." SHEEP LAUREL (Kalmia angustifoUa L.) Common Names: Sheep-laurel is also called lambkill, sheep-poison, wicky, kill-kid, calf-kill. Description : The sheep laurel differs from the mountain laurel in its lower stature, in its somewhat narrower leaves, which are commonly 79 opposite or in threes and pale beneath, and in its crimson flowers, which appear later than the fresh green shoots of the season. It is in bloom from June to July. Distribution: This species is also native, and is found on hillsides, pastures, and in bogs from Newfoundland, Labrador, to Ontario, and on the Hudson bay. Poisonous Properties: Of an intensive poisonous nature similar to the mountain laurel. No doubt, other species of Kalmia, including the swamp or pale laurel {Kalmia polifolia Wang.), are equally injurious. 80 DOGBANE FAMILY {ApocynacecB) SPREADING DOGBANE {Apocynum androsaemifolium L.) ^ • Plate XXXI. Common Names: The spreading dogbane is also called honey-bloom, bitter root, wandering milkweed, wild ipecac, rheumatism- weed. Description: The spreading dogbane is a perennial herb from two to three feet high, rich in milk-sap, with a smooth stem usually red on one side and with spreading branches. The leaves are opposite, short-stalked, oval, acute, entire, two to three inches long. The flowers are small, pale rose, somewhat striped, open bell-shaped, in loose cymes, the corolla tube much longer than the calyx, with spreading lobes, sweet-scented towards evening. The fruit consists of two slender pods, four to six inches long. The seeds are numerous, with a tuft of white silky down at one end. The plant is in bloom during June and July. Distribution: It is found commonly in fields and thickets, and open woods from Anticosti to British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: See the following species. BLACK INDIAN HEMP {Apocynum cannabinum L.) Dogbane Family. Common Names: This species is known also as wild cotton, rheuma- tism-root, amy-root. Description: The flowers of this species differ from the above in being greenish-white, without perfume. The corolla lobes are ascending and not longer than the calyx lobes. The seeds are slightly longer. The black Indian hemp has a strong, tough fibre, at the same time fine and soft, which is used by the North American Indians in making bags, baskets, belts, fishing lines and nets. Both species are generally distri- buted across the continent, but are seldom found in close proximity. Poisonous Properties: Both the spreading dogbane and the black Indian hemp are said to be poisonous to live stock. As a rule the plants are not enticing to stock as they have tough stems, but in the early summer, when the stalks are tender and succulent and in those places where the plant is abundant and more wholesome vegetation is lacking, animals are tempted to eat the young green shoots. The black Indian hemp contains the poisonous glucoside apocynin^ as well as the glucoside apocynein. Plate XXXI. Spreading Dogbano. 82 MILKWEED FAMILY {Asdepiadacece) BUTTERFLY- WEED {Asdevias tuherosa L.) Common Names: The butterfly-weed is also known by the names pleurisy-root, orange-root, Canada-root, orange swallow-wort, yellow milkweed, Indian-posy, silk-weed. Description: The butterfly-weed is an erect, stout, perennial herb. The stem is simple or branched near the top, hairy, very leafy, from one to two feet high. The leaves are alternate, oblong, pointed or sometimes rounded at the apex, very short-stalked or without stalks, two to six inches long. The greenish-orange flowers are arranged in terminal umbels, the stalks of which are shorter than the leaves. The seed-pods, or follicles, are very striking and characteristic of all the milkweeds. They are from four to five inches long and one to one and a half inches wide in the middle, tapering at both ends, and covered with fine hairs. The numerous seeds are flat, reddish-brown, with a long tuft of fine silky down. They may be seen in the autumn and early winter escaping from the partially opened pod and being blown some distance by the wind. The handsome orange flowers are in bloom from June to September. Distribution: Native to Canada, it is found on dry fields and banks, chiefly in the province of Ontario. Poisonous Properties: The leaves and stem are poisonous. They contain the amorphous, bitter glucoside asclepiadin. Horses and cattle avoid eating the plant, but sheep are sometimes poisoned when driven over dry districts where other herbage is scarce. Other Species of Milkweed in Canada. Plate XXXIL The swamp milkweed (A. incarnata L.); the common milkweed (A. syriaca L.), the showy milkweed {A. speciosa Torr.), and the oval-leaved milkweed (A. ovalifolia Dec), all natives of Canada and similar in general appearance to the butterflyweed but with opposite leaves, which is the usual arrangement with most of the milkweeds, are said to be more or less poisonous and must be viewed with suspicion until more is known of them. Plate XXXII 7v a^'- Photo-F. FylM. Swamp Milkweed. 84 MINT FAMILY {Lahiatce) GROUND IVY (Nepeta hederacea (L.) Trev.) {Glechoma hederacea L.). Plate XXXIII. Common Names : Ground ivy is also known by the folio wing, English names: Gill-over-the-ground, haymaids, creeping charlie, robin-run- away, hedge maids. Description: Ground ivy is a low, creeping and trailing, hairy, perennial herb, with round, scalloped leaves, green on both sides, one to two inches wide, their short stalks placed opposite one another on the square stem. The light blue corolla is three times the length of the hairy calyx. The whole flower is only about half an inch long and not so wide. The plant is in bloom from April until May or June. Distribution : — It has been introduced from Europe and is common in waste places, on damp or shady ground about doorways and neglected gardens. In the East it is found from Newfoundland to Ontario. It is common in British Columbia. Poisonous Properties : Like the catnip (A^. Cataria L.) ground ivy contains a volatile oil and bitter principle. Animals Affected : A fatal case (1915) of the poisoning of two horses was reported to us from Prince Edward Island. The horses ate the weed early in November when it afforded an abundance of fresh green in contrast to the surrounding herbage. Our correspondent says: ''The horses panted continually. One lived for five days, the other eight days. One would lie down occasionally, the other would not lie down. One ate the plant till it died, the other refused to eat anything." H. C. Long quotes a case which came before the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries (England) in 1906, in which three horses became ill with symptoms of poisoning, and the ''only weed found in the lucerne they were getting was ground-ivy, and this was suspected but not proved to be the cause. In a further case, reported in 1909, eleven horses were believed to have been poisoned by this weed, and in one of the dead horses scarcely any food but ground-ivy was found, and to it the veterinary surgeon in attendance attributed death." J. Ferencha^y (1914) reports a case of poisoning of nine horses, and states that ground ivy "has occasioned no trouble in cattle and sheep that consumed it." Symptoms : — The symptons of poisoning in horses as given by Ferenc- hazy are "anxious look, dyspnoea, salivation, sweating, dilation of the pupils, cyanosis, signs of pulmonary oedema." Remedy and Means of Control: On small patches the tops of the plant may be easily raked off and destroyed. A shallow layer of the soil may then be overturned to expose the numerous creeping rootstocks in hot dry weather. The weed does not long persist on well-cultivated land. ^ 63463—7 86 NIGHTSHADE OR POTATO FAMILY (Solanacece) BITTERSWEET (Solarium Dulcamara L.) Plate XXXIV. Common Names : This species of Solanum is sometimes called the woody nightshade, bittersweet-nightshade, scarlet berry, violet bloom and fever-twig. Description: The bittersweet is a climbing, somewhat woody and hairy perennial, three to seven feet high, with thin green leaves paler on the underside. The leaves are stalked, heart-shaped, the upper with two ear-like lobes at the base. The flowers are loosely clustered, rich purple with bright yellow stamens arranged in a cone at the centre. The berries, which give the plant a very attractive appearance in the autumn, are bright scarlet when ripe. Often on the same cluster of fruit, bright green, pale yellow, orange, and scarlet berries are seen. The seeds are round, flat, and yellow. The plant is in bloom from June to September. Distribution : Introduced from Europe, it is now rather common in Canada from New Brunswick to Ontario, chiefly found on moist woody banks, borders of streams, and around dweUings. It also occurs in British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: The stems, leaves, and berries contain the alkaloid solanine. The stems contain, as well, the glucoside dulcamarin which gives the plant its pecuhar bitter-sweet taste, and which has not yet been fully investigated. The degree of toxicity of the plant has not been determined; no doubt it varies under certain conditions. Chesnut says, ^'Besides solanin (0.3 per cent) this plant contains another less poisonous compound, dulcamarin . . . Neither of the compounds is abundant. The berry, though its taste is not remarkably disagreeable, is somewhat poisonous, a,nd it has been shown that an extract of the leaves is moderately so. The plant has nevertheless caused some ill effect." Schimpf ky reports that th6 berries have been used to poison dogs, and the juice of the fruit acts as 9, poison to rabbits. Animals Affected : Bittersweet, under ordinary conditions, is hardly likely to be eaten by stock. Gillam, however, records (Veterinary Record, 1906) a case of poisoning of sheep. Symptoms : In the case of sheep poisoning reported by Gillam, the symptoms given were, small, intermittent pulse, temperature 104^ F., quickened respiration, staggering gait, dilated pupil, and greenish diarrhoea. Remedy and Means of Control: About thickets and on the edges of woods where children are likely to be attracted by its crimson fruit, the plant should be cut off when in flower, caustic soda or hot brine should 03463— 7i 88 be poured upon the roots to check new growth and in time kill the shrub. Young plants may be readily handpulled. Older roots should be grubbed out. THREE-FLOWERED NIGHTSHADE (Solanum triflorum Nutt.) Nightshade or Potato Family. Common Names: This species is also called the spreading or prairie nightshade, the cut-leaved nightshade, and wild tomato. Description: The three-flowered nightshade is a low spreading annual, widely branching, sometimes forming a heavy flat mat from one to two feet in diameter. The leaves are oblong, with seven to nine lobes. The white flowers are arranged in groups of three. The berries are nearly twice the size of the following species, being one-half inch, or more, in diameter. They retain their green colour even when ripe. They are usually in groups of three. The plant blooms from July to September. Distribution : This native plant is found as a garden weed in Eastern Canada. It is becoming common on the prairies from Manitoba to Alberta. Poisonous Properties: The poisonous principle of this species has not yet been determined, but it is probably similar to the preceding. Experiments carried on by Chesnut proved that the berries were poisonous to guinea pigs. Chesnut and Wilcox say, ^'A single complaint of the poisoning of cattle by the fruit was sent to this department from Nebraska, and rabbits inoculated with the juice of the berries from that State were badly poisoned." COMMON NIGHTSHADE (Solarium nigrum L.) Nightshade or Potato Family. Plate XXXV. Common Names: The common nightshade, equally well known as the black nightshade, is also sometimes referred to as stubble-berry, deadly, and garden nightshade. Description: The common nightshade is a low, nearly smooth, much branched, and often spreading, annual plant from one to two feet high. The stems are somewhat rough-angled. The leaves are oval, tapering, two to four inches long, with few-toothed or wavy margins. The flowers are small, white, star-shaped, in drooping clusters of two to five. The berries are round, black when ripe. The plant blooms from July to September, and in the middle of the summer it is quite a common thing to find all stages of ripening fruit from pale green to black, as well as freshly opened flowers, all on the same plant. Plate XXXV. /^^''^♦-t.-O Common Xightshado. Photo— F. Fples. 90 Distribution: It is widely distributed throughout the world except in extreme north and south. In Canada it is found on shaded as well as open ground from coast to coast. Poisonous Properties: There seems to be no doubt that this plant must be regarded as poisonous, but under certain conditions of soil and climate the toxicity evidently varies. Thus we read that, the ''berries have been used instead of raisins for plum puddings, with no effects out of the ordinary" (Ewart), and again ''Children have been poisoned by the berries, but may on occasion eat them with no other ill effect than a stomach ache, or, if eaten in excess, sickness and purging" (H. C. Long). Chesnut says: "The amount of poison present in any part of this plant varies with the conditions of growth. The more musky-odoured plants are the most poisonous. In some, the amount of alkaloid in the ripe fruit and leaves is so small that these parts may be, and are, consumed in con- siderable quantity without any ill consequences. Poisoning does some- times follow, but it is not clear whether this is due to improper preparation or to careless selection of the parts used. The use of black nightshade for food is certainly not to be recommended." The common nightshade contains the alkaloid solanine, which is found in larger quantities in the partially ripened berries. It also contains solanidine which, though poisonous, is not violently so. H. C. Long says "a small quantity of solanine is present in the stem and berries, but these are probably less poisonous than green potatoes." Animals Affected: Cases of poisoning I^see Chesnut) have been recorded for calves, sheep, goats and pigs, and according to Lehmann, Schraber, and Haller, the berries are poisonous to ducks and chickens. Symptoms: The characteristic symptoms, as given by Chesnut, are about the same in man and animals, i. e., stupefaction, staggering, loss of speech, feeling, and consciousness; cramps, and sometimes convulsions. The pupil of the eye is generally dilated. Remedy and Means of Control: As both the common nightshade and the three-flowered nightshade are annual plants, they may be readily exterminated by pulling or close cutting when in flower. If, however, the fruits have already formed the cut tops should be buried in the compost heap, where fermentation will destroy the vitahty of the seed; or they may be burned. BLACK HENBANE {Hyoscyamus niger L.) Nightshade or Potato Family. Plate XXXVL Common Names: The black henbane is sometimes referred to as the foetid nightshade, insane root, and poison-tobacco. Plate XXXVI. /,>w^>^.^^ Black Henbane. Photo-F. Ftlet. 92 Description: It is an annual or biennial plant from one to two and a half feet high. The stem is coarse, hairy, and sticky. The leaves on the stem are without stalks, oblong in general outline, with three to five pointed lobes or sometimes entire with wavy margins. The flowers, with very short stalks, are pale greenish-yellow, strongly and beautifully veined with deep purple. The seed vessel is very characteristic. It is like a deep narrow basket with a cover which opens when the seeds are ready for dispersal. The plant is in bloom from June to September. Distribution: Black henbane has become naturalized in Canada, and is found about gardens and in waste places from Nova Scotia to Ontario. Poisonous Properties: It is a well-known poisonous plant, but poisoning rarely occurs among stock on account of its strong foetid odour and rough foliage. Chesnut records the poisoning of chickens which ate the ripe seeds. Cornevin reports the poisoning of cows by eating the plant when mixed with other herbage. H. C. Long says: ''There are numbers of cases of children having been poisoned by eating the seeds. The root has also caused accidents by being taken for other herbs, and the young shoots and leaves have been used in error as a vegetable. A case was reported in the press in 1910 in which twenty-five men and women visitors at a Davos pension suffered from the effects of eating the root of henbane^ given in error for horse-radish, or mixed with it. All suffered from strange hallucinations, but with prompt and careful treatment all had recovered in twelve hours." The poisonous principle is not destroyed by boiling or drying. Poisoning is due to one or more alkaloids, of which hyoscyamine is the chief. Symptoms : The symptoms of poisoning in animals as given by Welsby are nervo-muscular exaltation, eyelids and irides much dilated, eyes amaurotic and very bright, pulse full, temperature normal, respiration difficult and hurried, profuse salivation, muscles of neck and extremities in a state of tetanic rigidity, considerable abdominal distension, stercora- ceous and renal emunctories entirely suspended, death. Remedy and Means of Control: In the case of poisoning, profes- sional, advice should be obtained. The plants should not be allowed to mature their seed, but should be grubbed out wherever seen. THORN APPLE {Datura Stramonium L.) Nightshade or Potato Family. Plate XXXVII. Common Names: Among the variety of names given to this species of Datura, the best known are Jamestown or Jimson weed, stramonium, devil's apple, mad apple, stinkwort. The Indians speak of it as the 'White man's plant." Plate XXXVIL /a^,J^x^«Cu.^^ Thorn Apple. l^koto—F. FyUs. 94 Description: The thorn apple is a large and coarse annual from two to five feet high, with pale-green smooth stems and darker green leaves. The whole plant exhales a heavy nauseating narcotic odour. The leaves are egg-shaped, coarsely wavy toothed or angled. The flowers are white, two to four inches long, tubular, with fine teeth. The fruit or seed capsule is globular, slightly longer than wide, covered with coarse prickles, breaking open into four parts to show the numerous rather large seeds within. The plant is in bloom from May to September. Distribution: It has been introduced in Canada among garden seeds and is now found scattered throughout on waste ground. Poisonous Properties: It is a well-known narcotic poisonous plant. All parts of the plant are exceedingly poisonous, especially the seeds. Children are tempted to eat the fruit when playing where the plant is grow- ing. Fatalities among children have occurred on several occasions in the United States. The plant contains the three alkaloids, daturine, hyoscyamine, and atropine, which are highly poisonous. The toxicity is not destroyed by drying, and cattle poisoning has been recorded in the United States where the leaves were mixed with the hay. As a rule animals avoid the plant on account of its unpleasant odour and strong taste. Symptoms: The general symptoms as given by Chesnut are, ''Head- ache, vertigo, nausea, extreme thirst, dry, burning skin, and general nervous confusion, with dilated pupils, loss of sight and of voluntary motion, and sometimes mania, convulsions, and death." Remedy and Means of Control: The plants should be grubbed out or pulled wherever they have escaped from cultivation. No seeds should be allowed to mature, and all parts of the plant should be burned. Other Species of Datura. The purple thorn-apple (Datura Tatula L.) is another introduced weed of a similar nature found on waste ground in Ontario. It may readily be distinguished by its purple stem and pale violet-purple flower. This and D. Metel L. are also narcotic poisonous plants to be equally avoided. 95 LOBELIA FAMILY {Lobeliacece) INDIAN TOBACCO {Lobelia inf lata I..) Plate XXXVIII. Common Names : The Indian tobacco is frequently called wild tobacco, asthma-weed, gag-root. Description: The Indian tobacco is a hairy annual, with an erect branched stem from one to three feet high. The lower leaves are oval, from one to two and a half inches long with toothed margins and short stalks. The upper leaves have no stalks, and gradually diminish into leaf-like bracts. Its numerous pale blue flowers are small, two-lipped, and rather inconspicuous in the axils of the upper leaves. The seed-pods are inflated, nearly round, with ten prominent ribs, and contain numerous brown seeds, oblong and reticulated. The plant is in bloom from July to October. Distribution: It is commonly found in fields and thickets from Labrador to Saskatchewan. It is native to Canada. Poisonous Properties: The whole plant contains an acrid milky juice, and has an unpleasant burning taste. It is used medicinally. The leaves contain the poisonous narcotic alkaloid lobeline. Lobeline, as well as other constituents found in lobelia, is open to further investigation, but its action is well known. Greenish remarks, ''Lobeline has an action closely allied to that of nicotine; it first excites the nerve-cells and then paralyses them." Millspaugh says, ''Thanks to much reckless prescribing by many so-called botanic physicians, and to murderous intent, as well as to experimentation and careful provings, the action of this drug is pretty thoroughly known. Lobelia in large doses is a decided narcotic poison, producing effects on animals generally, bearing great similitude to some- what smaller doses of tobacco, and lobelina in like manner to nicotiaJ^ Symptoms: The prominent symptoms of its action as given by Mills- paugh are: "Great dejection, exhaustion, and mental depression, even to insensibility and loss of consciousness; nausea, and vertigo; contraction of the pupil; profuse clammy salivation; dryness and prickling in the throat; pressure in the oesophagus, with a sensation of vermicular motion, most strongly, however, in the larynx and epigastrium; sensation as of a lump in the throat; incessant and violent nausea, with pain, heat, and oppression of the respiratory tract; vomiting, followed by great prostra- tion; violent and painful cardiac constriction; griping and drawing abdom- inal pains; increased urine, easily decomposing and depositing much uric acid; violent racking paroxysmal cough, with ropy expectoration; small, irregular, slow pulse; general weakness and oppression, more marked in Plate XXXVIII. rC- t>-C/ Fkotu—F. Fyle White Snakeroot. 100 an accidental carrier of some pathogenic organism. According to reports, the same flora may be in areas in which 'trembles' occur as in those free from it, and milk-sickness is also said to occur where no vegetation grows (inclosed pens). The disease also has disappeared from an area after simply clearing the woodland where it occurred and turning it into pasture. Again, severe epidemics have occurred in winter when the foUage has disappeared, which would tend to exclude the higher, non-evergreen plants as the cause of this disorder." The later experiments however, of Curtis and Wolf, as well as those of Marsh and Clawson (1917) are conclusive in showing that, apart from the evident connection of milk-sickness with the symptoms caused by the ingestion of snakeroot, there is no doubt that this plant is poisonous to stock. The former says : . . . ''white snakeroot had previously been claimed by Moseley to cause trembles in animals. This claim has been substantiated by experiments with sheep in which green plants of E. ageratoides were ied^^ ; and the latter : ". . . it has been clearly demon- strated that E. urticaefolium must be counted as one of the rather important stock-poisoning plants which produces serious losses of domestic animals." These experiments also showed that the plant loses a large part of its toxicity in drying. In the following year, 1918, the experiments of Wolf, Curtis & Kaupp, in North Carolina, also proved that trembles and milksickness were due to this plant. According to them, the disease may appear ''at any season of the year, but is most prevalent in late summer and autumn, especially when other vegetation is scarce because of drought. The disease is frequently fatal in domestic animals while the sequel of milksickness in man, in case of recovery, is lasting debility." "During the experimenta- tion, 31 fatal cases of trembles and milksickness have been developed among the 44 ewes and lambs that were employed in some phase of the experimentation involving the feeding of white snakeroot. Two of these lambs contracted genuine cases of milksickness by suckling their mothers, demonstrating that the disease may be transmitted through the milk. This fact has for a long time been a matter of common belief among farmers. Furthermore, animals in lactation, having access to white snakeroot, may be apparently normal yet are capable of transmitting milksickness through their milk." Animals Affected: — The experiments referred to above proved that white snakeroot was poisonous to all domestic animals. Symptoms: — The action of the poison is cumulative. The general symptoms as given by Marsh and Clawsoft are, trembling, especially of the nose and legs, more marked after exercise; depression and inactivity; constipation with nausea and vomiting; pronounced weakness; difficulty in standing, the animals sometimes remaining down for a prolonged period before death. 101 Remedy and Means of Control : — As the plant produces an enormous quantity of small seeds it should not be allowed to reach maturity. Grub- bing out or repeated cutting is the only effectual means of getting rid of this weed. SNEEZEWEED {Helenium autumnale L.) Thistle family. Plate XL. Common Names:— Among the popular names by which sneezeweed is known are false sunflower, swamp sunflower, and yellow ox-eye. Description: — The sneezeweed is an erect, soft, downy or nearly smooth perennial plant, growing to a height of two to six feet. The flow- ering heads are numerous, showy and bright yellow. Each head consists of a central raised globular mass of numerous small flowers, surrounded by ten to eighteen bright yellow ray flowers. The leaves are without stalks, firm, oblong, pointed at the apex and narrowed at the base. The leaves are prolonged more or less down the stem. The seeds are top-shaped, ribbed, and hairy, with five to eight pointed scales at one end. Helenium blooms profusely from August to the end of October, and is often cultivated for that reason. Distribution: — Sneezeweed is a native of Canadian soil, and is found in swamps, wet meadows, and along streams from Quebec to British Columbia. Poisonous Properties: — This plant is known to be poisonous when eaten in any quantity. As a rule cattle avoid it. Chesnut says: — ''Sheep, cattle, and horses that are unfamiliar with the plant are often poisoned by it when driven to localities where it is abundant. As a rule, these animals avoid it, but it is said they sometimes develop a taste for it and are, quickly killed by eating it in large quantity. The poisonous constituent has not been closely investigated, but it is known that it exists principally in the flowers. The young plants appear to be only very slightly dangerous. In the mature ones the amount of poison present seems to vary greatly even in the same field. The symptoms, as deter- mined by experiments made in Mississippi upon calves, are an accelerated pulse, difficult breathing, staggering, and extreme sensitiveness to the touch. In fatal cases, death is preceded by spasms and convulsions. Melted lard has been used with good effect in offsetting the action of the poison when given before the spasms began." Remedy and Means of Control: — As the plant prefers wet soil, drainage and cultivation are the best means of preventing its growth. In small patches it may be hand-pulled taking care to get up the perennial roots and to avoid scattering the seeds if they have already formed. 63463—8 Plate XL. 7t a Sneezeweed. Phota-F. Fyles. 103 RAGWORT (Senedo Jacohaea L.) Thistle Family. Plate XLI. (Facing p. 104) Common Names : Other names given to this weed are British ragwort, tansy-ragwort, staggerwort, and stinking- willie. Description: The common ragwort is a perennial (or biennial) with short, thick rootstocks. It is sometimes quite woolly or almost devoid of hairs. The stems are stout, simple or branched above, with deeply-lobed and incised green leaves. The flower heads are arranged in a broad, flat-topped cluster, each head bright yellow, in form resembling a small daisy. It is in full bloom from July to September. The seeds are small and easily blown about by the wind. Distribution: Ragwort has been introduced from Europe, and is now naturalized in Canada from Newfoundland to Quebec and Ontario. It is found in ballast, along roadsides, in waste places and pastures. Poisonous Properties : This weed has been the cause of considerable loss among cattle in Canada. At first it was not generally recognized that there was any connection between ragwort and the serious disease of the liver (hepatic cirrhosis) known in Canada as the Pictou cattle disease. The late Dr. Fletcher called attention to this suggestion in 1891. ''This plant," he says, ''is well known in Pictou county, and it is stated that the majority of the farmers there believe that to it and it alone are they indebted for what is known as the 'Pictou cattle disease.'" At that time the average yearly loss in Pictou county. Nova Scotia, was 200 head of cattle. The Dominion Department of Agriculture made careful and extensive investigations (1903-6) which proved the weed ragwort to be the cause of the disease. As it was found that sheep were capable of assimilating the plant without injury, it was kept in check by pasturing them on the infested areas. In South Africa the same disease, locally called Molteno cattle sick- ness, appeared among horses as well as cattle, and was attributed to a closely allied species of ragwort. In New Zealand considerable attention was given to this disease among horses, under the name of the Winton disease, and a great effort was made to eradicate the weed {Senedo Jaco- haea). With this object in view, sheep were pastured on an area of 4,000 acres where ragwort grew very abundantly. Although, in about a year's time, several mortalities among the sheep occurred, Gilruth came lo the conclusion that, if the weed is not too prevalent, sheep may, with a few exceptions, graze upon it daily without injury. In England, recent poisoning (1917) of cattle has been reported (Board of Agriculture) from feeding them on dried forage containing rag- wort. In this case, as in others, the feeding had been going on for a considerable period before any visible effects of the poison occurred, 104 showing that the action of the poison is both insidious and cumulative. Little is known of the actively poisonous principle, but it is evidently one or more of the alkaloids which have been isolated from various species of ragwort. Symptoms: In regard to the cases of poisoning in Canada it was found that the disease was progressive, and to the careful observer certain premonitory symptoms were visible sometimes months before more characteristic manifestations appeared. In one case reported upon by Pethick, by actual experiment which lasted eighteen months and twenty- one days, death occurred only forty-four days after the first visible symptoms. ''In this case," he says, ''as indeed in nearly all others, we noticed a peculiar bleached appearance of the hair, which seemed to have lost its lustre, a desire to be alone, irritation of temper or nervousness, occasional chills, although in a moderately warm stable. This animal would stand and shiver while the healthy members of the herd appeared comfortable. The bowels are irregular, the pulse at this stage is fast although quite strong, temperature slightly above normal." Later and more characteristic symptoms are: visible mucous membrane pale, eyes amaurotic, slight diarrhoea, emaciation, followed by great weakness, staggering gait, inability to rise, and finally death. Remedy and Means of Control: Although strychnine and iron may be used in incipient cases with beneficial results, it was shown by these experiments that measures of this kind are of little real value. The best means of controlling the disease is through the eradication of the weed, and for this purpose (Report Veterinary Director-General, 1911), "The farmers in the counties of Pictou and Antigonish, as also those portions of Prince Edward Island where the weed and the disease existed, were strongly advised to make use of sheep as an economical and profitable means of eradicating this troublesome plant. Numerous farmers followed this advice, but many other methods of eradicating ragwort were also inaugurated, while the practice of removing it from the hay when cut was almost universally adopted. As a consequence, loss from the disease has become almost unknown." Ragwort Plate XL, BIBLIOGRAPHY Barton, B. S., Collections for an Essay towards a Materia Medica of the United States, 1798^1804, Bui. No. 1 Lloyd Library, 1900. Bessey, C. E., Poisonous Weeds. Rept. Nebraska Agr. Exp. Sta., 16, pp. 14-62. Blankinship, J. W., The Loco and other Poisonous Plants in Montana. Agric. Coll. Exp. Sta., Montana, Bui. 43, 1908. Chesnut, V. K., Principal Poisonous Plants of the United States. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Div. Bot., Bull. 20, 1898. Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United States. U. S. Dept. Agric. Far- mers' Bull. 86, 1898. Preliminary Catalogue of Plants Poisonous to Stock. Ann. Rept. Bur. An. Ind., U. S. Dept. Agr., 15; 387-420. Some Common Poisonous Plants. Year Book, U. S. Dept. Agr. 1896. Some Poisonous Plants of Northern Stock Ranges. Year Book, U. S. Dept. Agr. 1900. and Wilcox, E. V., Stock Poisoning Plants of Montana. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Bot., Bull. 26, 1901. Cornevin, Ch., Des Plantes Veneneuses, 1887. Crawford, Albert C, Mountain Laurel, a poisonous plant U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. of Plant Industry, Bull. No. 121, pp. 21-35 1908. (Out of print.) The Supposed Relationship of White Snakeroot to Milksickness or " Trembles ". U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Plant Ind., Bui. 121. Curtis, R. S., and Wolf, F. A. Eupatorium ageratoides, the Cause of Trembles, Jour. Agr. Res. Vol. IX. 11. 1917. Experimental Farm Reports, Ottawa, Can. 1910-1912. Ferenczhazy, J., Poisoning Horses by Ground Ivy. Allatorvosi Lapok, 37 (1914) No. 8, pp. 89, 90, abs. in Berlin. Tierarztl Wohnschr., 30 (1914) No. 15, p. ^59. Fyles, Faith, Preliminary Study of Ergot of Wild Rice, Phytopathologj-, Vol. V, No. 3, June, 1915. Hadwen, S. and Bruce, A. E., Poisoning of Horses by the Common Bracken. (Pteris aquilina L.) Dept. Agr. Can. Bui. 26, 1917. Hall, H. M., and Yates, H. S., Stock-poisoning Plants of California. Col. of Agr., Berke- ley, Cal., U. S., Bull. No. 249, 1915. Halsted, B. D., Poisonous Plants of New Jersey. Agr. Exp. Sta. N.J., Bull. 135, 1899. Hedrick, U. P., Cicuta, Agr. Exp! Sta., Oregon, U. S. BuU. 46, 1897. Henslow, G., Poisonous Plants in Field and Garden, London, Eng., 1901. Jackson, V., Poison Ivy and other Poisonous Plants. Agr. Col., Winnipeg, Man., Cir. No. 12, 1915. Jacobson, C. A., Water Hemlock (Cicuta) Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 81, Nevada, 1915. Johnson, Ch., British Poisonous Plants, London, 1856, (Ed. 2, 1866). C. P. and Sowerby, J. E., British Poisonous Plants, 1861. 105 63463—9 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY— Condw^ed. Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, Nov., 1913. Journal of the Board of Agriculture, July, 1917. Joimial of the Royal Agricultural Society, England, Annual Report of Consulting Botanist for 1899, Poisonous Plants investigations, including Ranunculus acris, R. parviflorus, R. Ficaria, etc., etc., 1899, pp. 678-688. Long, H. C, Plants Poisonous to Live Stock, Cambridge, 1917. Marsh, C. Dwight, The Loco-weed Disease. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bulletin, No. 380, 1909. • The Loco-weed Disease of the Plains. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. of Animal Industry, Bull. No. 112, 1909. (Out of print.) Stock-poisoning due to the Scarcity of Food, U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' BuU. No. 536, 1913. Prevention and Losses of Live Stock from Plant Poisoning, U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bull. 720, 1916. Clawson, A. B., and Marsh, Hadleigh, Larkspur or " Poison Weed." U.S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bull. No. 531, 1913. Cicuta, or Water Hemlock. U.S. Dept. Agr. Bull. No. 69, 1914. Zygadenus, or Death Camas, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bull. No. 125 May, 1915. ^ Larkspur Poisoning of Live- stock, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bull. 265, Sept., 1916. Lupines as Poisonous Plants, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. No. 404, Dec, 1916. Eupatorium urticaefolium as a Poisonous Plant, Journ. Agr. Res., Vol. XI, 13, 1917. Pammel, L. H., A Manual of Poisonous Plants (with bibliography by Harriette S. Kellogg.) Cedar Rapids, la. The Torch Press, 1911. Pethick, W. H., Pictou Cattle Disease, Dept. Agr. Ottawa, 1906. Pratt, Anne, The Poisonous, Noxious and Suspected Plants of our Field and Woods, 1857. Selby, A. D., White Snakeroot a Poisonous Plant. Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta., Jan., 1917. Smith, A. B., Poisonous Plants of All Countries, 1905. Slade, H. B., Some Conditions of Stock Poisoning in Idaho. Idaho Exp. Sta. Bull. 37, 1903. Stockman, Sir S., Bracken Poisoning in Cattle in Great Britain, Jour. Com. Path, and Thera., Dec, 1917. Swingle, D. B. and Welch, H., Poisonous Plants and Stock Poisoning on the Ranges of Montana. Montana Agr. Col. Cir. 51, 1916. Wilcox, Dr. E. V., Larkspur Poisoning of Sheep. Exp. Sta., Montana, U. S. Bull. 15, 1897. Willing, T. N., Plants injurious to Stock. Dept. Agr., Regina, Bull. 7, 1903. --. .-^ INDEX Acorus Calamus Actaea alba " arguta " neglecta. . : " rubra " " var. dissecta " spicata Agrostemma Githago Alopecurus pratensis Aluminum sulphate American pulsatUla " white hellebore Amy-root ANACARDIACEAE Andromedoioxm Anemone Crocus • Anemone patens vax. Wolfgangiana. . Anemonine Anthoxanthum odoratum Antidea elegans APOCYNACE^ Apocynein Apocynin Apocynum androsaemijolium " cannabinum Apple Devil's Mad Thorn ARACE^ Arisaema Dracontium " triphyllum • Arrhenatherum elatiu^ Arum — Arrow VII, Three-leaved Water VII, Arum Family ASCLEPIADACEjE Asclepiadin • • • • Asclepias incarnata " ovalifolia " speciosa " syriaca " tuberosa Ash- Prickly Asthma-weed Atropine Avena fatua Balsam-spurge Baneberry — White VIII, Red VIII, Barberry Barley Bark- Rope Barren Brome Grass PAGE PAGE 26 Bearded-darnel 13 42 Beaver-poison 71 44 BERBERIDACEjE 47 42 Berberine 45 42 Biting crowfoot 35 44 Bitter-root 80 42 Bittersweet XI, 86 32 " nightshade XI, 86 4 Black-henbane XI , 90 1 " Indian-hemp X , 80 37 " Nightshade 88 23 Blisterwort 35 80 Bloodroot IX, 51 62 Blueberry-root 47 78 Bluecolfe^h VIII, 47 35 Blue-flag VII, 26 37 Blue-ginseng 47 37 Blue-Grass — 35, 37 Canadian 6 4 Kentucky 6 23 Bog-onion 18 80 Bonaparte's-crown 60 80 Bottlebrush 11 80 Bouncing-Bet 33 80 Bracken 3,9 80 Brake 9 Briza media 6 92 Broad-leaved laurel 78 92 Bromus sterilis 6 92 Buttercup Family 35, 44 18 Buttercup — 18 Meadow 36 18 SmaU-flowered VIII , 36 6 Tall VIII, 36 Butterfly-weed X, 82 20 18 20 Cabbage — 18,20 Clump-foot 20 82 Swamp 20 82 CaK-kill 78 82 Calico-bush , . . . . 78 82 Calla 20 82 " palu^tris 20 82 Calochortus 23 82 Caltha asarifolia 38 " biflora 38 45 " chelidonii 38 95 " palustris 25,37 94 " leptosepala 38 17 Camas — Death 3,21 60 Smooth 23 Swamp 23 42 Camass 21 42 Camassia 23 47 Campion — 4,13 Com 32 Rose 32 65 Canada moonseed VIII , 45 6 " root 82 107 108 INDEX— Continued. PAGE Canadian blue grass 6 Cardinal-flower 97 CARROT FAMILY 68, 71, 76 CARYOPHYLLACE^ 32 Cashew Family 62, 64 Cat's-milk 59 Caulophylline 47 Caulophyllum thalidroides 47 Celandine — Greater IX, 52 Celery-leaved crowfoot 35 Cenchrus tribuloides 17 Chelerythrine 51, 52 Chelidonine 52 Chelidonium majus 52 Children's-bane 71 Churnstaff : 59 Cicuta hulbifera 73 " maculata 71 " vagans 73 Cicutine 71 Cicutoxine 71 Claviceps purpurea 4 Clumpfoot-cabbage 20 Cockle- Corn 32 Cow VII, 33 Purple VII. 2, 3, 32 Cohosh — " Blue VIII, 47 Colchicum 35 Common-nightshade 88 COMPOSITE 98 Conhydrine 68 Coniceine 68 Coniine 68 Conium maculatum 68 Coral-and-pearls 42 Cornfield horsetail. . . ." 11 Cowbane — Spotted 71 Cowslip 37 Cow-herb 33 Crazy-weed 56 Creeping-chaylie 84 Crocus anemone 37 Crocus — Wild 37 Crowfoot — Biting 35 Cursed VII, 2,3,35 Celery-leaved 35 Tall 36 Crow-poison 23 Cursed crowfoot VIII, 35 Cut-leaved-nightshade 88 Cypress spurge IX , 60 Dactylis glomerata 6 Daphne mezereum 65 Daphnin 67 Darnel 3, 13 Bearded 13 Poison 13 White 13 PAGE Datura Metel 94 " Stramonium 92 " Tatula 94 Daturine 94 Deadly-nightshade 88 Death camas VII, 3, 21 Deerwort-boneset 98 Delphinium Consolida 39 " hicolor 39 " glaucum 39 " menziesli " 39 " nelsonii 39 " Staphisagria 39 Delphinine .■ 39 Delphinoidine 39 Delphisine 39 Devil's-apple. 47, 92 " bite 23 " ear 18 " milk 52 Dirca palustris 65 Dogbane Family 80 Dogbane — Spreading X , 80 Dogwood — Poison 64 Dragon — Green 18 Dragon turnip 18 Duck's-foot 47 Dulcamarine 86 Dwarf -bay 65 Easter-flower 37 EQUISETACEJE 11 Equisetum arvense 11 ERICACEAE 78 Ergot Family 4 " of Rye 3,4 Ergotism 6 Ergotoxine 6 EUPHORBIACEAE 59 Euphorbia Cyparissias 60 " Helioscopia 59 Euphorhium 60^ Eupatorium ageratoides 98' " urticaefol'um 98 False hellebore VII, 23 False-sunflower 101 Fern-brake 9 Fern Family 9 Fescue — Meadow 6 Reed . . 6 Festuca arundinacea 6 " elatior 6 Fever-twig 86 Flag- Blue 26 Poison 26 Water 26 Fleur-de-lis 26 Flower-de-luce 26 109 INDEX— Continued. PAGE Gag -root 95 Garden-nightshade 88 Garget 30 Gill-over-the-groiind 84 Githagism 32 Glecoma hederacea 84 GRAMINEJE 13 Grass — Alkali 21 Barren-brome 6 Canadian-blue 6 Foxtail 17 Holy 4 Kentucky-blue 6 Meadow-fescue 6 Orchard 6 Quaking 6 Reed-canary 4 Reed-fescue 6 Sweet vernal 4 TaU-oat 6 Grass Family r 13 Graveyard-weed 60 Greater celandine 37 Green dragon VII, 18 " lily 23 Ground-Ivy. XI, 84 " lemon 47 Hairballs 37 Haymaids 84 Heath Family 78 Hedge-maids 84 Helenium autumnale 101 Hellebore — American-white 33 False 33 Swamp 33 Hellehorin 38 Hemlock — Poison 68 Water 71 Wild 68 Hemlock-water-parsnip 76 Hemp^ — Indian 80 Henbane — Black 90 Hepatic cirrhosis 103 Herb-christopher 42 Hierochloe odorata 4 Hog-brake 9 Hog's-potato 21 Holy grass 4 Hnmochelidonine 51 Hon(;y-bloom 80 Honeydew 4, 6, 7 Hordeum jubatum 17 Horsetail 3, 11 Cornfield 11 Horse-tail Family 11 Hyoscyamine 92, 94 Hyoscyamus niger 90 HYPOCREACEM. PAGE 4 Ictrogen Indian Hemp X, poke .' posy sanicle tobacco XI, 2, 18, 95, turnip IRIDACEM Iridine Iris Family Irisine Iris versicolor Itch-weed Ivy — Ground XI, Three-leaved Jack-in-the-pulpit VII, Jamestown-weed Jervine Jimson-weed Jointed rush Kalmia augustifolia . . " latifolia " polifolia. . . . Kentucky blue grass . Kill-kid King-cup Knight's-spurs LABIATE Lady-laurel Lambkill Laportea canadensis Lark's claw " heel Larkspur VIII, Low VIII, Tall VIII, Laurel Broad-leavei Lady Mountain X, Pale X, Poison Sheep X, Swamp * X, Loathorwood LEGUMINOSCE. LILIACEjE Lily Family Lobelia XI, " cardinalis. .s " inflata " spicata " syphilitica Lobelia Family LOBELIACEAE Lohelina Lobeline 54 80 23 82 98 97 18 26 26 26 26 26 23 84 62 18 92 38 92 11 78 78 79 6 78 37 39 84 65 78 27 39 39 3,39 39 39 3 78 65 78,79 79 78 78 79 65 54 21 21, 23 21,95 97 21,95 97 97 95 95 95 95 no INDEX— Continued. PAGE Loco-vetch 56 Loco weed IX, 3, 56 Stemless IX, 56 LOLIUM TEMULENTUM 13 Lupine IX, 3, 54 Perennial 54 Lupinidine 54 Lupinosis 54 Lupinus perennis 54 Lysichiton camtschatcense 20 Mandrake 47 Marsh marigold VIII, 25, 37 May-apple IX, 47 " blobs 37 Meadow fescue 6 " foxtail 4 " gowan 37 " pine 11 MENISPERMACE^ 45 Menispermum 45 Menispine 45 Mezerein 67 Mezereon IX, 65 Mezereum Family 65 Milk- Devil's : 52 Milkweed Family. . : 82 Milkweed — Common X, 82 Oval-leaved X, 82 Showy 82 Swamp X, 82 Millet 17 Mint Family 82 Moonseed — Canada 45 Moonseed Family 45 Moosewood 65 Mountain-laurel X, 78 Musquash-root 71 Mystery grass 21 " plant , 65 Necklace-weed 42 Needle-grass 13 Nepeta hederacea • 84 Nettle Family 27 Nettle- Dwarf 27 Slender VII, 27 Stinging 27 Western - VII, 27 Wood VII, 27 Nicotia 95 Nightshade — Common XI, 88 Cut-leaved XI, 88 Garden 88 Spreading 88 Woody 86 PAGE Oats- Wild 17 Orange-root 82 Orange-swallow- wort 82 Orchard grass 6 Oxyacanthine 45 Oxytropis Lamberti 56 Pale-laurel 79 PAPAVERACEM 51 Papoose-root 47 Paradise-plant 65 PARSLEY FAMILY 68 Pasque flower VIII, 3, 37 Pea Family 54, 56 Peltandra virginica 20 Perennial lupine 54 Phalaris arundinacea 4 PHYTOLACCACEM. 30 Phytolacca americana 30 " decandra 30 Phytolaccine 30 Phytolaccotoxin 30 Pigeon-berry 30 Pink Family 32, 33 Pleurisy-root 82 Poa compressa 6 " pratensis • 6 Podophyllin 49 Podophyllum peltatum 47 Poison — Beaver 71 Crow 23 Poison-berry 42 Poison-darnel 13 Poison-dogwood 64 Poison-hemlock X, 3, 68 Poison elder 64 " Ivy .IX, 62 " laurel 78 " oak 62 " onion 21 " root 68 " sego 21 " sumach IX, 64 " vine 62 Poke- Indian 23 Poison VII, 30 PoKEWEED Family 30 Pole-cat weed 20 POLYPODIACEAE 9 Poppy Family 51, 52 Porcupine grass 15 Potassium permanganate '. . . . 1 Potato Family 86, 90, 94 Prairie anemone 37 " nightshade 88 " smoke 37 Protopine 51, 52 Pteridium aquilinum 9 Pteris aquilina 9 Pulsatilla patens 37 Purple thornapple 94 Ill INDEX— Continued. PAGE Quack-salver's spurge 60 Quaker-bonnets 54 Quaking grass 6 Ragwort XI, 3, 103 Tansy 103 RANUNCULACE^ 35 Ranunculus abortivus 36 " acris 36 " replans 36 " sceleratus 35 Rattleweed 56 Red-Indian-paint 51 Redroot 51 Reed canary grass 4 " fescue 6 Rheumatism-root 80 weed 80 Rhy^ Toxicodendron 62 " Vernix 64 Richweed 98 Robin-run-away 84 Rope-bark 65 Rye 4,6 7, Sand-bur 17 " flower 37 Sanguinana canadensis 51 Sanguinarin 51 Saponaria officinalis 33 " Vaccaria 33 Saponin 30, 32, 33, 47 Scarlet-berry 86 Scoke 30 Scouring-rush 11 Senecio Jacobaea 103 Setaria 17 Sheep-poison 78 Sium cicutaefolium 76 Skunk cabbage VII, 20 Western 20 Smaller spearwort VIII, 36 Smooth camas VII, 23 Snake-berry 42 " bite 51 " pipes 11 " root XI, 3 Snakeweed 68, 71 Sneezeweed XI, 101 Soapwort 33 SOLAN ACE^ 86 Solanidine 90 Solanine 86, 90 Solanum Dulcamara 86 " nigrum 88 " triflarum 88 Soldiers' buttons 37 Spathyema foetida 20 Spermoedia Clavus 4 Spoon-wood 78 Spotted-cowbane 71 " parsley 68 Spreading-dogbane X, 80 " nightshade 88 PAGE Spurge — cypress IX, 60 quack-salver's 60 sun IX, 59 Spurge Family 59, 60 " laurel 65 Squaw-root 47 " weed 98 Squirrel-tail grass 17 Staggerwort 103 Staphisagrine 39 Starch-wort 18 Stemless loco weed 56 Stinking poke 20 " WiUie 103 Stinkwort 92 Stipa comata 15 " spartea 15 Stramonium 92 Stubble-berry 88 Sundial 54 Sunflower — False 101 Swamp 101 Sun-spurge IX, 59 Sunweed 59 Swamp cabbage 20 " camas 23 " milkweed X, 82 " sumac 64 " sunflower 101 Swallow-wort 52 Swampwood 65 Sweet flag 26 " slu Qber 51 " vernal grass 4 Symplocarpus foetidus 20 Tall-crowfoot 36 " oat-grass 6 Tansy-ragwort 103 Tare 13 Temuline 13 Thistle Family 98, 101, 103 Thorn apple XI, 92 Three-flowered nightshade 88 Three-leaved arum 18 Three-leaved ivy 62 THYMELAEACE^ 65 Tiihymalus Cyparissias 60 " Helioscopia 59 Toad-root 42 Tobacco — Indian XI, 2,95 Poison 90 Wild 95 Toxicoscordion gramineum 21 Tree-moss 60 Turnip — dragon v 18 Indian 18 Turnsole 59 Turmeric 51 112 INDEX— Concluded. Umbrella-plant 47 UMBELLIFERyE 68 URTICACEM. 27 Urtica dioica 27 " gracilis. . , 27 " holosericea . . 27 " Lyallii 27 " wens 27 Vaccaria Vaccaria 33 Vegetable-calomel 47 Veratrine 21, 25 Veratrum viride 23 Vine-maple 45 Violet-bloom 86 Wandering-milkweed 80 Wart-flower 52 Wartweed ; 59 Water-arum 20 " dragon 37 " goggles 37 " hemlock X, 3,71 " parsnip X, 3, 76 White-beads 42 " berry 42 White-man's plant 92 " sanicle 98 White snakeroot XI, 3, 98 " top.. 98 Wicky Wicopy IX, Wild barley " cotton Wild crocus . .'/: hemlock ipecac . oats . . . pea lupine tobacco tomato Wode-whistle Wolf's-milk . Woody nightshade , Yellow ginseng . . " milkweed , ox-eye parilla sarsaparilla . Zanthoxylum americanum . Zygadenine Zygadenus chloranthus . . . . " venenosus PAGE 78 65 17 80 37 68 80 17 54 54 95 88 68 59 86 47 82 101 45 45 45 21 23 21 .ci?„ (j'ri^i^l '8 1 1 . ^ /^ -> o ^^. ^o c>%^-^^^^' :iv.#t--\.^ MEM 5-V. J r m f-^ r oro BOOK 1VCKE1 OOAEI CBAaivri I n