Locoed sheep do not exhibit such conspicuous symptoms as cattle and horses ; 

 their lack of muscular control is not so noticeable, although they display 

 more weakness, stumble, fall easily, and may die from starvation. 



According to Marsh 1 the best treatment is to remove locoed animals from 

 the range to good pasture, preferably alfalfa, as all afflicted livestock tend to 

 be constipated, and alfalfa relieves that condition. Where constipation is 

 marked, drenching with Epsom salts is recommended. Once an animal is 

 locoed, subsequently it is unsafe to give the "critter" freedom of the open 

 range, as it will usually become locoed a second time. In the case of valuable 

 horses daily doses of from 4 to 6 teaspoonfuls of Fowler's solution in the 

 drinking water may be administered with benefit. Marsh J 2 recommends hypo- 

 dermic doses of about one-fifth of a grain of strychnin for stricken cattle. 



No practical method of eradicating crazyweeds from large areas has been 

 devised. Grubbing may prove effective in small, heavily infested patches if 

 the roots are cut 2 or 3 inches below the bud crowns a practice which 

 prevents subsequent sprouting from those parts. Conservative grazing, which 

 facilitates the reestablishment of perennial grasses and other desirable forage 

 species, is probably the only economic method of reclaiming large areas of 

 range. Seeding to other species may hasten reclamation. 



At least three species of Oxyttropis cause livestock losses from locoism. Among 

 these crazyweed (O. lamber'tii) is discussed separately in this handbook. Spike 

 crazy weed (0. macou'nii, syns. O. spica'ta (Hook.) Standl., not (Pall.) O. & B. 

 Fedtsch. ; Ara'gallus spica'tus), a white-flowered form closely related, to 

 O. lambertii, growing from Montana to Colorado, is very common in Montana 

 on northern slopes of foothills and mountains at elevations up to about 8,000 

 feet, and responsible for heavy losses in that State. 3 Rocky Mountain crazy- 

 weed (O. saximonta'na, syn. O. albiflo'ra (A. Nels.) K. Schurn., not Buuge ; 

 Ara'gallus albiflo'rus), another white-flowered form closely related to O. lani- 

 bertii, and perhaps only a variety of spike crazyweed, ranges from Montana 

 to Utah and Colorado, mostly at elevations between 4,000 and 10,000 feet, 

 and is frequently abundant and responsible for losses in that area. 4 



Three other species are strongly suspected by stockmen of causing locoism 

 and, tentatively at least, are included in this handbook among the crazyweeds. 

 Whorled crazyweed (O. ricJiardso'nii, syn. O. splen'dens richar&so' nil) , which 

 ranges from Yukon to Utah and northern New Mexico, is peculiar in that its 

 leaflets are whorled, or bunched in circles of three or four (or occasionally 

 more). Economically it is a question mark, together with its near relative, 

 showy crazyweed (O. splen'dens), sometimes called silvery loco, Avhich ranges 

 from Minnesota to Alaska and Montana. 3 Haresfoot crazyweed (0. lago'pus), 

 a silky-hairy, dwarf form in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, 

 is another species which stockmen consider hazardous. 



Bessey pointvetch (0. bes'seyi), typical of dry sites in Montana and Wyo- 

 ming, is rather common in the Yellowstone Valley. It was formerly con- 

 sidered poisonous, but Marsh z asserts that it is harmless. 



The crazyweeds and pointvetches are similar in general aspect and resemble 

 many of the species of Astragalus. When in flower they can easily be distin- 

 guished from the latter by both the beak at the tip of the keel and the equal 

 teeth of the outer united flower parts (calyx). Crazyweeds and pointvetches, 

 as a rule, lack leafy stems; their pealike, usually white, yellowish, bluish, or 

 purple flowers are borne in clusters (spikes or racemes) at the ends of leafless 

 flowering stalks. The leaves are basal, usually from the crown of a deep, 

 woody taproot, and are divided (pinnately compound) into paired leaflets 

 arranged along the midrib. Hairiness in varying degree, color, and texture 

 (such as silky or woolly), is characteristic of the leaves, flowering stalks, 

 bracts, calyxes, and pods of all the range species. 



The entire genus greatly needs thorough scientific investigation. 



1 Marsh, C. D. THE LOCO-WEED DISEASE. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bull. 1054, 19 pp., 

 illus. 1919. 



2 Marsh, C. D. STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF THE RANGE. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1245, 

 rev., 75 pp., illus. 1929. Supersedes Bull. 575. 



8 Chesnut. V. K., and Wilcox, E. V. THE STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA : A PRE- 

 LIMINARY REPORT. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Bot. Bull. 26, 150 pp., illus. 1901. 



*Beath, O. A., Draize, J. H., and Gilbert, C. S. PLANTS POISONOUS TO LIVESTOCK. 

 Wyo. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 200, 84 pp., illus. 1934. 



