UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



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BULLETIN No. 710 



Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



September 13, 1918 



STAGGER GRASS (CHROSPERMA MUSCiETOXI- 

 CUM) AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 



By C. Dwight Marsh and A. B. Clawson, Physiologists, Poisonous Plant 

 Investigations, and Hadleigh Marsh, Veterinary Inspector. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Description and characteristics 1 



Historical summary 4 



Experimental feeding of the plant 5 



Typical cases 6 



Page. 

 General conclusions: 



Toxic dose 11 



Symptoms 12 



Poison cumulative 13 



Animals susceptible 13 



Remedial measures 13 



Summary 14 



Literature cited 14 



DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS. 



Chrosperma mugccetoxicum, commonly known as " stagger grass," 

 " fly poison," " crow poison," or " fall poison," shown in figures 1 

 and 2, belongs to the lily family. It grows from a coated bulb, and 

 reaches a height of from 1J to 4 feet. The leaves are narrow and 

 grasslike, those of the stem being few and short. The stem is much 

 longer than the leaves and bears a dense raceme of flowers, which 

 turn greenish with age. The fruit is red. The plant is found in sandy 

 woods from Long Island to Florida and west as far as Arkansas. It 

 is said to grow at an altitude of 4,000 feet in Virginia. 



The plant was first brought to the attention of this department 

 by Mr. F. L. Huggins, of Wilmington, N. C, in March, 1911. He sent 

 specimens of the plant and reported that the people of that neigh- 

 borhood knew it as "stagger grass," and said that it was fatal to 

 sheep in 24 hours. He said also that many cattle had been sick and 

 that some had died from its effects. The matter was deemed of suffi- 

 cient importance to make an investigation of the locality where the 

 losses had occurred. The locality is a typical plains region of eastern 



60420°— 18 



