PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK. 



251 



native on the Pacific Slope from San Francisco to British CoUimbia. 

 The phmt is reported from Oregon as poisonous to sheep. It is quite 

 probable that the leaves contain andromedotoxin, but they have not 

 been tested. 



* Rhododendron maximum. — The great hiurel (i-osebay ; moun- 

 tain laurel ; rhododendron) is a large evergreen bush or small tree which 

 is quite commonly cultivated for ornament, and 

 is found native in the Allegheny Mountains. The 

 leaves contain andromedotoxin, and they are occa- 

 sionally eaten by stock with fatal effect. 



PRIMULACE,^ (primrose FAMILY). 



Anagallis arYensis. — The pimpernel is a 

 European plant which has obtained a specially 

 strong foothold in California, where it grows 

 luxuriantly and is sometimes known as poison 

 weed. It is suspected of having caused the death 

 of a horse at Santa Ana. Chemists have isolated 

 a powerfully poisonous oil and a strongly active 

 ferment from the plant. 



OLBACE.'E (olive FAMILY). 



Ligustrum vulgare. — The privet, or prim, is 

 a garden shrub, introduced from Europe and 

 Asia, which is much used for hedges, and has 

 escaped from cultivation in western New York 

 and southward to North Carolina. Accidents have 

 been occasioned in children both by the fruit and 

 the leaves. The plant is to be suspected in cases 

 of poisoning in animals. 



APOCYNACE.F. (DOGBANE FAMILY). 



Apocynum androsaBmifolium, spreading dog- 

 bane : A. cannabinum, Indian hemp. — These 

 plants are generally distributed throughout the 



United States. Stock generally avoid them in pasture fields on account 

 of their acrid milky juice. When dry they are not so poisonous as when 

 in the fresh state. 



Nerium oleander. — The oleander is a common house plant throughout 

 a large portion of the United States. It grows freely out of doors in 

 the Southern and Western States, and has probably escaped from culti- 

 vation in some places. It grows wild in northern Mexico. The leaves 



Fig 108. — IMilkweed 

 {Asdepias eriocarpa), 

 one-sixth natural size. 



