66 STOCK.-POISONIJS'G PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



Bear Tooth, Castle, and Rocky Mountains, Mission Range, and Bitter 

 Root Mountains. The distribution of this plant so far as observations 

 of the season of 1900 go, includes the following counties: Flathead, 

 Teton, Ravalli, Lewis and Clarke, Fergus, Meagher, Madison, Jeffer- 

 son, Gallatin, Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, and Deerlodge. It is 

 widel}^ distributed in mountain regions from California to Alaska. 

 But although this plant is found in a large number of counties of the 

 State it is far less abundant than the purple larkspur, the localities in 

 which it is found being as a rule far more restricted. The purple 

 larkspur is to be found in almost every locality where the conditions 

 are favorable to its growth, which is far from true of the tall larkspur. 



HISTORY AS A POISOIJOIIS PLANT. 



The tall larkspur appears not to be eaten by sheep. All cases of 

 poisoning from this plant observed in Montana during this year and 

 previous years have been among cattle. As already indicated, sheep 

 are not driven to the mountain ranges until about the middle of July, 

 and at this season the tall larkspur is altogether too large and coarse 

 for their consumption. It is well known, on the other hand, that 

 cattle will feed on much coarser forage than sheep, and at the same 

 time they are allowed to run on the high ranges in the early spring. 

 In Montana the light green tufts of leaves of the tall larkspur first 

 become conspicuous about the last of April or the first of Ma}^, and the 

 flowers begin to open about the middle of June. This fact is signifi- 

 cant for the reason that light falls of snow often occur in the larkspur 

 belt as late as the first week in June, and,' since there is then no other 

 verdure in sight, the uncovered portion of the larkspur is in a high 

 degree tempting to stock, all the more because it is succulent. The 

 danger is increased by the fact that at the time of snow falls cattle 

 seek the shelter of creeks where the larkspur is more abundant and 

 most advanced in growth. At this period, moreover, the leaves are, 

 as we can testify from personal observation, very bitter, and they are 

 probably then more poisonous than at any other stage of growth. The 

 older ones, as is also the case with the blue larkspur, are not so bitter. 

 The plant is recognised by cattlemen as dangerous to cattle from May 

 until about the middle of June. Mr. Yard Cockrell informs us that 

 on his range in the lower basin of the Gallatin it is the sole duty of one 

 man during this period to keep his cattle away from the broken moun- 

 tainous regions where this larkspur abounds. 



In response to a communication from the Department Mr. E. C. 

 Alderson, of Bozeman, Mont., a man of wide experience as a guide in 

 Montana, states that about the middle of Jul}' and later he has observed 

 that horses will sometimes walk out of the l)eaten trail to nip the tops 

 of the flowering plants, and Dr. F. W. Traphagen, professor of chem- 

 istry at the Montana Agricultural College, informs us that he has seen 



