142 STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



Montana claim that, while the white-flowered wild onion is not poison- 

 ous, the pink-flowered is so, an idea which may be due to the fact that 

 the latter species is not nearly so well known as the white, and is more 

 easilj^ confused with poison camas, which has a somewhat similar bulb. 

 One of our assistants, indeed, ate a considerable portion of a poison 

 camas bulb before he was convinced that it was not an onion. 



At 2 p. m., June 12, a Belgian hare, which had his food withheld 

 since the preceding night, received 50 grams of the whole flowering 

 plant of A. hremstylum. This was eaten somewhat gingerly, but at 8 

 o'clock, applying the correction for loss of weight due to evaporation 

 of water, it was found that 48^ grams, nearly the whole amount, had 

 been eaten. No ill effect was noted, and the same rabbit readily ate a 

 few grams of the fresh onion the next day. 



WILD LICORICE. 



{Glyqjrrhizalepidota^xxv^h..) 



An erect perennial half -woody herb, 1 to 4 feet high, with a thick, 

 sweet root, slightly hairy pinnate leaves, yellowish-white flowers in 

 dense spikes on the sides of the stem, and pods thickly covered with 

 hooked prickles. The plant is generally distributed throughout the 

 State along river banks and in moist, shadj^ places. During the 

 season of 1900 it was observed in abundance in Cascade, Flathead, 

 Choteau, Lewis and Clarke, Meagher, Gallatin, Missoula, and Park 

 counties. The general distribution is from Montana to New Mexico 

 and westward to Nevada and California. The plant is quite commonly 

 known to stockmen of the State by the name of licorice. The pods 

 frequently become entangled in the wool of sheep and the hair of 

 cattle. The leaves and stems of the wild licorice are f reel}^ eaten by 

 cattle and horses on the range, but not by sheep so far as commonly 

 observed. In many localities it grows so abundantly that stockmen 

 have cut it for hay. Obviously the crop must be cut before the burs 

 are formed, since these structures would render it almost impossible 

 for stock to eat the hay. A few inquiries have been received in regard 

 to the possible poisonous nature of the plant. There seems to be no 

 reason for suspecting it, since large quantities of wild licorice have 

 been eaten as hay, and direct feeding experiments with sheep and 

 calves indicate that the plant is entirely harmless. 



On June 3, 68 grams of the crisper upper portion of nonflowering 

 plants collected along the banks of the Yellowstone and Livingston on 

 May 30 was offered in a good turgid condition to a hungry rabbit. It 

 was thought that the disagreeably bitter and astringent taste of the 

 plant would cause the rabbit to shun it, but five hours afterwards it was 

 found that about 18 grams had been eaten. No marked symptoms 

 were presented, and the animal was in good condition the next day. 



