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Toxicity of Astragalus miser Dougl., var. oblongifolius (Rydb.) Cronq.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

M. Coburn Williams  and
Wayne Binns
M. Coburn Williams
Affiliation:
Crops Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan
Wayne Binns
Affiliation:
Animal Disease and Parasite Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan
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Abstract

Astragalus miser Dougl., var. oblongifolius (Rydb.) Cronq. was analyzed for seasonal and physical distribution of its contained poison. Small chickens (Gallus domesticus, Arbor Acre X Vantress hybrids) and cattle (Bos taurus, Hereford) were used as test animals. The poisonous compound was extracted from dried plants with 95% ethanol, evaporated and redissolved in water, then semi-purified by several extractions with chloroform for toxicological studies. The poison was found primarily in the green leaves. The plants were very poisonous until they began drying in August. Once leaves became bleached at senescence, toxicity disappeared. Plants treated with the triethylamine salt of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) and the alkyl amine salts of 2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)-propionic acid (silvex) were less poisonous to cattle than untreated plants. Acute poisoning in chickens was characterized by depression, accelerated heart action, followed by congestion of lungs, cardiac insufficiency, paralysis, and heart failure. Chronically poisoned birds exhibited the same syndrome but sustained more severe liver damage.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weeds , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , October 1967 , pp. 359 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © 1967 Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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