Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:48:48.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toxic alkaloid response to herbicides used to control tall larkspur

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Michael H. Ralphs ,
Gary D. Manners  and
Dale R. Gardner
Michael H. Ralphs*
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84341
Gary D. Manners
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA 94710
Dale R. Gardner
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84341
*
Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Herbicides have been used to control tall larkspur to prevent cattle deaths. There is some evidence that tall larkspur may become more toxic and more palatable during the desiccation process following herbicide treatment. A series of studies were conducted to measure toxic alkaloid concentration in tall larkspur following treatment with metsulfuron, picloram, and glyphosate. Herbicides were applied to larkspur plants grown in a greenhouse (1990), to field plots infested with larkspur (1993), and to individual larkspur plants in the field (1995). Leaves were harvested up to 14 or 28 d following treatment, and toxic alkaloids were measured. Metsulfuron increased toxic alkaloid concentration in the 1990 greenhouse study and in 1993 field plot studies, and increased both concentration and absolute amount of toxic alkaloids in 1995 individual plant treatments. Alkaloids in plants treated with picloram either remained unchanged or declined slightly in all three studies and were similar to control plants. In the 1995 study, glyphosate caused the relative concentration of alkaloids to increase as the plants desiccated, but the absolute amount of alkaloids was similar to control plants. Picloram and glyphosate did not reduce alkaloid concentration; thus, the risk of poisoning remains until plants desiccate. Metsulfuron increased alkaloid concentration, thus increasing the risk of poisoning. Cattle should not be allowed to graze sprayed areas until larkspur desiccates and withers.

Keywords

Metsulfuronpicloramglyphosatetall larkspur, Delphinium barbeyi (L.) Huth DELBAGlyphosatemetsulfuronpicloramnorditerpenoid alkaloidsmethyllycaconitine14-deacetylnudicaluinepoisonous plantDelphinium barheyi
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , February 1998 , pp. 116 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Ashton, F. M. and Crafts, A. S. 1981. Pages 174–291 in Mode of Action of Herbicides. New York: J. Wiley.Google Scholar
Bunderson, F. B., Ralphs, M. H., Evans, J. O., Call, C. A., and Nielsen, D. B. 1995. Carpeted roller application of herbicides for larkspur (Delphinium spp.) control. Weed Technol. 9: 392–396.Google Scholar
Cronin, E. H. and Nielsen, D. B. 1972. Controlling tall larkspur on snowdrift areas in the subalpine zone. J. Range Manage. 25: 213–216.Google Scholar
Cronin, E. H., Nielsen, D. B., and Madson, N. 1976. Cattle losses, tall larkspur and their control. J. Range Manage. 29: 364–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devine, M. D., Duke, S. O., and Fedtke, C. 1993. Pages 113–140 in Physiology of Herbicide Actions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gardner, D. R., Manners, G. D., Ralphs, M. H., and Pfister, J. A. 1997. Quantitative analysis of diterpenoid alkaloids in larkspur (Delphinium spp.) by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Phytochem. Anal. 8: 55–62.Google Scholar
Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Pages 131–140 in Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Manners, G. D., Panter, K. E., Ralphs, M. H., Pfister, J. A., Olsen, J. D., and James, L. F. 1993. Toxicity and chemical phenology of norditerpenoid alkaloids in the tall larkspurs (Delphinium species). J. Agric. Food. Chem. 41: 96–100.Google Scholar
Manners, G. D. and Pfister, J. A. 1993. Normal phase liquid chromatographic analysis of toxic norditerpenoid alkaloids. Phytochem. Anal. 4: 14–18.Google Scholar
Manners, G. D. and Pfister, J. A. 1996. Sampling a poisonous plant population: quantifying toxic alkaloids in tall larkspur (Delphinium barbeyi) leaves. Weed Sci. 44: 782–788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, D. B. and Ralphs, M. H. 1988. Larkspur: economic considerations. Pages 119–130 in James, L. F., Nielsen, D. B., and Ralphs, M. H., eds. The Ecology and Economic Impact of Poisonous Plants on Livestock Production. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Nielsen, D. B., Ralphs, M. H., Evans, J. O., and Call, C. A. 1994. Economic feasibility of controlling tall larkspur on rangelands. J. Range Manage. 47: 369–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfister, J. A., Manners, G. D., Gardner, D. R., and Ralphs, M. H. 1994. Toxic alkaloid levels in tall larkspur (Delphinium barbeyi) in Colorado. J. Range Manage. 47: 355–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ralphs, M. H., Evans, J. O., and Dewey, S. A. 1992. Timing of herbicide applications for control of larkspurs (Delphinium spp.). Weed Sci. 40: 264–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ralphs, M. H., Manners, G. D., and Gardner, D. R. 1998. Influence of light and photosynthesis on alkaloid concentration in larkspur. J. Chem. Ecol. In press.Google Scholar
Ralphs, M. H., Manners, G. D., Pfister, J. A., Gardner, D. R., and James, L. F. 1997. Toxic alkaloid concentration in tall larkspur species in the Western US. J. Range Manage. 50: 497–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ralphs, M. H., Mickelsen, L. F., Evans, J. O., and Dewey, S. A. 1991. Selective application of glyphosate for control of larkspurs (Delphinium spp.). Weed Technol. 5: 229–231.Google Scholar
Williams, M. C. and Cronin, E. H. 1963. Effect of silvex and 2,4,5-T on alkaloid content of tall larkspur. Weeds 11: 317–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, M. C. and James, L. F. 1983. Effects of herbicides on the concentration of poisonous compounds in plants: a review. Am. J. Vet. Res. 44: 2420–2422.Google Scholar