PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK. 



241 



Lupinus leucophyllus. — This herbaceous shrub is a representative of 

 a very large genus of plants, many of which are widely and abundantly 

 distributed throughout the western United States, and are generally 

 known as lupines. The above species is very abundant in Montana, 

 where it is said to have caused the death of a very large number of 

 sheep. There is some question whether the animals are killed by a 

 poisonous constituent of the plant 

 or merely by tympanites. The seeds 

 of all the lupines are probably dele- 

 terious in the raw state. In Europe, 

 however, the seeds of Lupinus alius, 

 after the bitter taste has been re- 

 moved by steeping and boiling, are 

 eaten by human beings as well as 

 by cattle. 



POISONING BY LUPINES (lUPINUS 

 LEUCOPHYLLUS ; L. SEPvICEUS ; L. 



CYANEUS). 



These plants are commonly 

 known by the names blue pea, 

 blue bean, and wild bean. They 

 are coarse, silky-haired perennial 

 herbs, with blue flowers arranged 

 in conspicuous terminal racemes, 

 which blossom in June and July, 

 with long- stemmed leaves, which 

 are divided into from seven to 

 eleven leaflets radiating from a 

 common point. The fruit is a hairy, 

 several-seeded pod, and the seeds 

 are small and somewhat flattened. 



As a rule these plants do not 

 occur in the flat river bottoms. 



They occur most abundantly on the foothills and mountain ranges at 

 moderate elevations. 



During the season of 1900 the lupines in Montana began to bloom 

 about May 20th, and the first full pods were collected on June 5th. 

 Lupines are not very extensively eaten by sheep during the spring and 

 summer, except when they are unusually hungry or are being driven 

 from one range to another. Lupines are more often eaten by sheep in 

 summer on the mountain sides, and in the fall and early winter after 



D.C. R 



Fig. 93. — Rattle box {Crotalaria saglt- 

 talis). rt, Whole plant; &, cross-section 

 of seed pod— both one-third natural 



size. 



