PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK. 
429 
lent and inviting appearance to the unwary. Adult horses and 
cattle, according to Mr. Chesnut, do not so commonly fall vic¬ 
tims to poisonous plants as do the smaller and weaker herbivora, 
these latter being more circumscribed in their pasture-range than 
the older and stronger animals. Sheep, it appears from the re¬ 
port, are more often poisoned by noxious plants than any other 
animal. The plants treated of most fully in the report as being 
poisonous to stock are the water hemlock, various species of 
larkspur, and the poison camas. Mr. Chesnut’s description of 
these is as follows : 
WATER HEMLOCKS. 
General Characters. —The local species of water hemlock 
are the plants best known throughout the whole of the North¬ 
ern stock regions as poisonous to stock. These are members of 
the genus Cicuta, belonging to the carrot family. There are at 
least three distinct species of this genus in the Northwest, the 
fleshy roots of which, under the erroneous name of “ wild pars¬ 
nip,” are rapidly fatal to man or beast if eaten even in small 
quantity. All are alike in being smooth, generally erect, peren¬ 
nial herbs, 3 to 8 fett high, with one or more upright hollow 
stems, numerous branches, mostly bipinnate leaves with lance¬ 
like and serrated leaflets 1 y 2 to 4 inches long, and terminal um¬ 
bels of small white or greenish-white flowers. The seeds, and 
especially the fleshy roots, together with the geographic distri¬ 
bution of the plants, serve to distinguish the species. 
Species and their Distribution. —The most widely known 
members of the group in the United States, the American water 
hemlock ( Cicuta maculata ), is probably the most deadly plant 
native to this country. An account of its poisonous character 
may be found in the year-book cf the Department for 1896. A 
very similar species (C. virosa ), which is equally poisonous, is 
well known throughout Europe. Both of the latter species, 
although fatal if eaten by animals, are best known as being dan¬ 
gerous to man. Children especially are killed by eating the 
fleshy rootstocks in the early spring, when they are most apt to 
be exposed by being washed or frozen out of the soil. The 
