(Kalmia Latifolia) and Sheep Laurel
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2 5 I~ IIIiI2.8 2 5 :; ""I 2.8 11111_ . 11111 . 1.0 1.0 Ii.': '= w~ ~I"~ w~ III"~ .2 L:: I~ L:: ~J~ I:.:: I:.:: ~ g~ 2.0 ~ I~ '- " '"'- " 1.1 ...... u 1.1 1jJL;.1,.\. - --- - 111111.8 111111.25 111111.4 111111.6 111111.25 111111.4 111111.6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS·1963-A NATIONAL BUREAU or STANDAROS·1963·A v -~========~ In~;rrm;rrE'CH~IIc.<IL BULLETIN No.. 219. ~ . DECEM.lIER, 19.'\0 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE \VASHINGTON, D. C. ~/IOUNTAIN-LAUREL (KAL1vIIA LATIFOLIA) AND SHEEP LAUREL (KAL~UA ANGcSTIFOLIA) AS STOCK-POISONING PLANTS By C. DWIGHT MARSH, Associate Physiologi<ltill C)lurgc of IIl1:('.~figatioll.~ Of Stock PoisOning by Plants, H1l(1 A. B. CLAWSON. Associate PlIY8iologist, Path. ologwal Di1/i.sion, BlIrC(llI, of Animal IlIdll,~try ~ t-= ~ l:i CO~TEXTS !'! c -' > rnl,",' Page !:! a: Introduction•••••, ......................... I . Discussion anel general conclusions-C'ontd. .l !-Description nnd blstory............... _.,' 1 Time [rom feeding to appearance of to:: Ul Kalmialntifolin...................... I sympto~_....................._...... 15 ~ K~IUli:l angustifoli!l.......... :1 Dumtionofslckness............ ...... 16 .. Z Expenmcntnl work........,"". ,( Remedies.... __ •_____ ................... IS ',~ - KolminlntiColia........ ... c!i Kalrn in nngustifolin.. '''",, __ , Animalsnlfccled by the plants.......... to lU 20 G hi Discussion and geneml conclusions.. Conditionsunderwhich pofsoningoccurs. ., (j Symptoms.......... .... __ ' . I:? . PoL>onin!;by ilel'h oennfmnls which have 1~ : eaten Kalmia......._.............__ ... :?O Z .. Z ~ficroscopiechnn!(esinnniruul ti~sllcS 12 I >'ummnry•.,. __ .............................. ~Q '(!:! Toxic nn'llcrhal dosage................. 11 • Literatllre cIted......__ ._.......__ •••••••••• :?t ~1 0 I') III ..: INTRODUCTION I{ahnia 7atifo7ia and g. angustifolia, commonly known a" monn tain-Iallrel anel ~heep laurel. l'e~pectj\'ely, Ill'(' :llllong the most promi nent stock-poisoning plants of the ('astern part of the enited States. They are widely di~triblltl'(1. wpll known to most people in the region ,,1)(,1'e tlw)' are found. nIHl prizl'd hp('tlllH' of tl1('ir beauty. 1Yhile many pl'ople: r('('ognizl' t1wm HS j,Pillg poi,,;ol1ol,ls. definite information in regard to the (lffp('t pl'o<lw'(\{] hy tlwlll, the toxic dosage. and possi ble 'ways of treating Doi:;oI1P(! :lllimub 01' In·oitlin!! Ios!:'('s have not been r;adil)" anljlai)le'. Fl'('qlll'l1t inquil'i('" are l'('ceiwd by tIl(' De partment of Agncultlll'(' ('onc('rning til('se plants. but there hus been no publication by tlw c1('partnwJlt or hy otlwrs which ('onld be used to answer these qUeJ'ies. The two plants produc(' tb(' same: (·fi'ect ann tlwi1' poisonous prop erties are due to the same substance, andromedotoxin: therefore it . seems advisable to dis('uBs both of th(,111 in a sing-Ie publicatioll. DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY KALMIA LATIFOLIA K. latifoliCL is sho'wll in'Figure L The following- dl:'scl'iptioll of the plant is from Gmy's },Tew)Iulluul of Botany. (fl. I). (j.U)! : 1 Italic IlUmbCl'S in pnrentbcl'I.'S n'fet: to I.ltl'rntlll'" {'it('ti, p. 21. 15144°-1\0-_1 1 GII'I ·JAN .14 1931 ~.,. 2 TECHNICAL BLTLLETIN 219, 1:. S. DEPT. OF AGlUCULTUllE Leave,,' mostly alternate, brig-ht green botll shk;.:, oyatc-lnnceolate or oblong, acute at each end, petioled; cor;rlllus terminal, many t!owel'ed, clammy-pubes cent; flowers 1.5-2.5 (~Il1. brotlt1, Ilink or white; lIOn depr('!"sed, glandular. Rocky hills :Illcl damp soH, N_ B. to Ont.• llll(l southw. TJl'uallj' a shrub, hut. in the mt". from Pa. soutlm-oo oftell tl·c!!-like. lIrlt~--.Tlllr. 1,'rlH'JI~J 1.-.-~rouutaill-laul'cl f Kulmi(l /(fti[oCif! t. "I\Owill~ till' plllllt in hlos"Olll find (111' "tl'lH'tlll'I' or lh,' IlolI"l'l' In the NC)I'tllei'1l Stnte~ thi" plallt is commollly eaHe<1 mountaill lalll'rl. In the South it i:-; generally calle!l in'. Other name" which haY(' been used are calieo flll:.-;h, br('jH(llpnf ltllil'C'l, hip:h lann~l, P01;;011 iry, monntain iT)" ivy bu::h~ h-,Ywood, big iyy. spoonWOt)<l, wicky. SPOOIl hnteh, l'oulldlenf lnn1'('l, p:l'cat hill reI , and willh'q.!l'cen. Tllt' 111'.;;{ l1wntion of this pLant Ull1~' hay(' bN'Il. in IG:2-b. b.\T.,Capy. •Tobn Sl11lth (18), ,\'110 d<';;('I'liJl'(l fl "kInd of tree 11kc Low('('11 "; tlus l\WUNTAIN AND SHEEP LAURELS AS POISONOUS PLANTS 3 very likely was K. latifolia. In the account of Robert Ivet (14.) of the'third voyage of Henry Hudson in 1609 is the statement, " and t.hey went on land and found goorlly Grapes and Rose trees." The location as shown by the lati tude observations must han' been Cape Cod. Some author~. including Crawford (10), hay(' supposed that the " rOse tre('s ,. were mountain-laurel; this has seemed questionable to the authors of this bulletin. and Professor Fernald, of Harvard University, whe is intinmtely acquainted with the New Eng land flora, was asked to express his opinion. He wrote that there was no e,~c1ence of tbe presence of K. latifolia 'on Cape Cod, but that roses weI'£' ?,bunc1ant all oYer the Ca]H' and he saw no renson for inter preting roses as anything other than roses. It was described by Gl'0110 vius (lJ) and Catesby (6) and given its prCf:ent scientifi(' nunl(> by Linnaeus in 17il:} (J6). The generic nit 111 c. Kalmia. was gin>n in honot: of PrteJ' Kahn (J 5), a Swedish tmvelrr, who ill 1770 wrote an ('xtenc1ec1 and inten'stin!! account of the appearance anc] hahhs of the plant. and oT its poisonol1s pr()p{>l'tie~. Mnch of the lllatt'rial written by latrr allthor~ about the pJUilt wns drawn from Kahn's neC'oullt. The first publieation of its P2?iSOll01lS properties. was. ill 1143. when GroIlovllls (I.J) wrotr that it WilS poisonous to sheep. a~lrl Catesby (5) that it ,va" pOlSOn()llS to cattl(> amI "het'p hut not to dl'(>I·. KALlIUA ANGUSTIFOLIA K. an{Iu.Rti/o7ia in blossorn j:; shown in Figul'(> 2. Following is thr desC'I'iption fl'om Gl'ay's .Manual (Il) 1). O,J.3): Shr"h rnl'('l~' 1 11\. high: len.Yt'5 comlllonly OI>I)ol'ih" OJ' in thl'I'l'S', pnh' nnll glnhrlltl' Unclf>J"Ilenth., brl~ht ATeen nboy(', IHll'l'owly ohlong. ohtul"l', petiole(f; . cor~'11IJ8 1nlernl (appe:u'ing later thlln the !'hootii of {lit; ::l'U;;OIl), !'llightly ,..'(;, 4 TECHNICAL BULLETIN 219, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRlCULTURE gliUldular, many-flowered; flowers rarely 1 cm. broad, crimson; calyx glnndular; pod depressed, nearly smooth; pedicels recurvecl in fruit. Hillsides, pastures, and bogs, Lab. to Ont., and southw. June, July. The plant is most commonly known as sheep laurel. Other names which have been applied to it are calfkill, lambkill, killkid, narrow leaf laurel, dwarf laurel, sheep poison, spoonwood ivy, i.vy, winter- . green, and wicky. While the plant had been seen by' prececling authors, Gronovius (13) and Oatesby (5) in 1743, it was first given its permanent scientific name by Linnaeus in 1753 (16). The first notice of its poisonous properties was by Colden in 1749 (9) . whoaaid that it was deadly to sheep. Kalm (15, 1). ~, p. 215 216) in 1771 stated that it poisoned" sheep and other lesser animals." As will be seen from the foregoing descriptions the two plants differ markedly in size, form of leaves, and color of flowers. The corymbs in K. latifolia are terminal. while in K. angustifolia. they are laterali this difference is clearly seen in Figures 1 and 2. The plants are ordinarily called evergreen. This is not strictly true as the leaTes are shed at the end of. the second snmmer. There fore, in the smnmer the plants have the leaves of two seasons and in the winter of one. In both plants the corollas are salver shaped and the stamens bent over and attached in little pockets, as shown in Figure 1. The stamens are under tension, and when released by the movement of insects seeking honey throw the pollen with considerable force. This force is so great that the pollen is thrown upon other blossoms, and in this way Illld by the transfer of the pollen to other blossoms by the insects cross-fertilization is broufrht, about. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Oomparatively little e:\.-perimental work has been clone to determine the symptoms, dosage, and treatment of poisoning b)~ these species of Kalmia. The following anthors made some experiments with K. latifolia: Thomas (19), in 1802; Bigelow (.'3), in 18l'7; Orawford (10) , in 1908; and Ohesnut (6, 8), in 1898 and 1899. The only author who has reported experiments with K. angu.stifoUn is Wood (121). in 1883. The results obtained by these authors wili be alluded to later under Discussion and Gf'neral Oonclusions. The experimental w.ork of the ·writers was carried on at the Salina Expe.riment Station, 8a11na, rtah, in the years 1927, 1928, and 1929. '1'he material used was collected in the eastem part of the United States and after drying was shipped to 8alina.2 l\Iost of the experiments were mltele by administering to the ani mals, by balling gun, weighed quantities of ground plant moistened 'with water. In a few cases the animals ate the plant which had been mixed with hay or bran. WIth K. latifoUa there were 8 experiments with cattle, 5 with goats, and 16 with sheep. 'With K.