62 MISC. PUB. 882, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Toxicity AND SymptToms.—In addition to being a stomach poison, 
yellow sage leaves are capable of sensitizing the skin to sunlight, a 
process called photosensitization (35). Animals that have become 
photosensitized develop symptoms only if exposure to sunlight fol- 
lows. One pound of dried mature leaves produces sensitization in a 
400—pound steer (57). Cattle and sheep are most frequently affected. 
Acute poisoning occurs only when large quantities of the plant are 
consumed. Common symptoms of acute poisoning are sluggishness 
or extreme weakness, soft, bloody feces, and occasional partial paralysis 
of the legs, followed by death in 3 to 4 days. Chronic cases of poisoning 
from yellow sage occur when small amounts of the plant are consumed. 
Affected animals become constipated in the early stages of poisoning, 
although later the droppings become soft. Nonpigmented skin with- 
out hair shows the first evidence of the disease ; pigmented skin covered 
with black hair may never become involved. The skin of the muzzle, 
ear, neck, shoulders, legs, or other parts of the body becomes yellow, 
SW ollen, hard, cr acked, and painful. The skin often peels, leaving 
large exposed raw areas. Areas of inflammation extend to the adjacent 
mucous membranes of the mouth and nasal passages. Affected ani- 
mals refuse food, drool saliva from the mouth, and lose weight. Skin 
and membranes surrounding the eyes may become affected, as well as 
the eyeball itself. 
MANAGEMENT AND ContTROL.—It is necessary to practice preventa- 
tive measures with livestock, since yellow sage is found in many ac- 
cessible locations. The fact that yellow sage occurs in thick patches 
under many shade trees in pastures indicates that livestock browse on 
the plants. However, animals will eat yellow sage only to a limited 
extent unless tethered or otherwise confined where more desirable for- 
age 1s not available. Manual and chemical methods are used to con- 
trol the plants. Where there are only a few plants, they may be either 
pulled up or grubbed out. The usual selective herbicides are effective 
and practical for thick starids or scattered plants covering large areas. 
Verbenaceae, or Vervain, Family 
Lantana involucrata L. (fig. 34) 
Sage 
Description.—This branching shrub is 12 to 15 feet high. It is one 
of several plants locally known as sage. The nearly round, stiff 
branches and leaves are, unlike most of its relatives, covered with 
short, white hairs. The oray ish bark is smooth or narrowly fissured. 
The small, thin, scurfy leaves are mostly opposite but occasionally 
whorled. The small, ovate leaves are borne on short leaf stems; they 
aS narrowed at the base, bluntly pointed or rounded at the tips, 1 to 
1-14 inches long and about 14 inch wide. The leaf blades, which are 
dark green above and pale beneath, have fine-toothed margins. The 
small flower heads are borne on flowering stems which occur in the 
leaf axils near the tips of the branches; each flower head is tol 
inch across and contains several small flowers. The individual flowers 
are about 1% inch long, and white to violet in color. The small, fleshy, 
blue to purple, one-seeded fruits are less than ¥g inch in diameter. 
This plant is easily distinguished from yellow sage by its smaller 
leaves and by its blossom ‘color. Flowers are produced most pro- 
