42 
Injurious Fodder and Poisonous Plants. 
II. C.' — Hellehorus viridis L. (Green Hellebore). Stem : 
about 1 ft. high. Leaves: digitate, leaflets sessile on 
short common stem. Flowers : greenish yellow. March 
and April. Place of growth: like the former. Peren- 
nial. (Both plants are doubtful natives of Britain.) 
Qualities: The plants contain a narcotic, acrid, poisonous, 
substance, which, in severe cases, has caused premature calving, 
in slighter ones collapse, following fits of violent purging. 
II. D. — Delphinium Gmisolida L. (Larkspur). Stem: 
erect, branched. Leaves : deeply multifid. Flowers : 
blue, rarely pink or white. June and July. Place of 
growth : on sandy, chalky cornfields. Annual. (Doubt- 
fully native.) 
Qualities : The unripe seeds are very acrid, and act 
similarly to the poisonous principle of foxglove, but more 
mildly. 
III. A. — Aconitum Napellus L. (Monk’s Hood). Stem : 
erect, from 2 ft. to 3 ft. high. Leaves : large, deeply 
cut. Flowers : purple. June and July. Place of 
growth : banks of rivers ; rare. Perennial. (Hardly 
indigenous.) 
Qualities : The whole plant, especially the root, yields 
a most virulent poison. Aconitine, the poisonous substance, 
causes dropsy, shortness of breath, convulsions, and finally 
death by asphyxia. 
III. B. — Actcea spicata L. (Bane Berry). Stem : trian- 
gular, 1 ft. to 2 ft. high. Leaves : stalked, biternate ; 
leaflets ovate, deeply cut. ‘Flowers: in ramose spikes, pure 
white. May ; succeeded in autumn by black shining berries 
of the size of peas. Place of growth : very local (York- 
shire ?). Perennial. 
Qualities: A deadly poison. The berries, when eaten, 
have caused the death of cattle grazing in mountainous regions. 
It has been recorded that sheep and goats can eat the plants 
with impunity. Cows, horses, and swine, some observers say, 
refuse it : but this cannot be universally true. 
Papaveracese. Prevailing qualities : narcotic. 
III. C. — Papaxier Rhceas L. (Common Red Poppy). Stem : 
bristly, many-flowered. Leaves : pinnatifid, cut. Flowers : 
large, deep scarlet, often blue black at the base. June and 
July. Poppy heads nearly globular, without bristles. Place 
of growth: in cornfields. Annual. 
III. D. — Papaver Argemone L. (Long-headed Poppy). 
Stem: short, leafy, many-flowered. Leaves : twice 
* The figures and letters in front of the names refer to the plate and 
illustration, 
