40 



MISC. PUBLICATION" 9 0, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



sufficient growth to supply the stock. All parts of the plant are 

 poisonous to cattle, horses, and sheep. (Fig. 19.) Swine seem to 

 be immune to the poison. The heaviest losses occur among sheep. 

 Reports from Wyoming record 500 deaths of sheep out of 1,700 

 poisoned (7, p. 262). 



The symptoms of death-camas poisoning are frothing at the mouth, 

 vomiting, irregular spasmodic breathing, convulsions, a staggering 



gait, and inability to rise when 

 down. 



LOCO 



There is a great variety of loco 

 plants (Astragalus) many of 

 which are poisonous. All have 

 a few common characteristics by 

 which they may be recognized. 

 Belonging to the pea family, they 

 all have the peculiarly shaped 

 blossom of cultivated peas. In color 

 the blossoms vary from white to 

 red, blue, and purple. The plants 

 are usually small, seldom reaching 

 a height of over a few inches, and 

 some species are so short as to be 

 called "stemless locos." The leaves 

 are pinnately compound, that is, 

 they have a central stem bearing 

 several small leaflets on each side 

 like the leaves of locust trees. 



Locos are not so poisonous as 

 death camas, but will eventually 

 cause death if an animal continues 

 to graze on them. (Fig. 20.) 

 The plants are poisonous at all 

 times to all classes of stock, but 

 cause the greatest loss among young 

 animals. They grow throughout 

 Fl a D pian 1 t 9 ^?o e n a o U h s c ?o ma m S „ ( sf ! 'r£r s s) ' the State in a great variety of habi- 



tats. Most of them begin growth 



very early in the spring, and it is at this time that they do the most 



damage as stock may be forced to graze upon them for lack of 



other forage. 



The symptoms of loco poisoning are a rough shaggy coat, glassy 



eyes, irregular gait, emaciation, and abnormal behavior. 



WATEE HEMLOCK 



Water hemlock (Cieuta) is the most poisonous plant in the 

 United States. (Fig. 21.) It is a large, coarse plant with pinnately 

 compound leaves having from 5 to 12 leaflets. The small white 

 flowers grow in umbels, and the fruits are smooth, round, and 

 unwinged. It is a member of the parsnip family and is often con- 

 fused with closely related plants such as Angelica. Water hemlock 

 requires considerable moisture and is found along the edges of 



