What is locoweed? June 1, 2009
Posted by askpari in Available in Pastures, Color of the Flower, More Common Kinds.Tags: Beans, Castor Bean, Cattle, Crazy, Dangerous Plant, Disagreeable Smell, Distasteful Taste, Dreaded Locoweed, Drunken Manner, Horses, Jimson Weed, Larkspur, Livestock, Locoweed, Pastures, Peas, Poisonous, Poisonous Plant, Sheep, Strange, Unlikable Look, Water Hemlock, Western United Sates, White Snakeroot
add a comment
The dreaded locoweed is a poisonous plant of the western United States.
Locoweed gets its name from the Spanish word for “crazy” because cattle, horses and sheep that eat this dangerous plant act in a strange, drunken manner and often die. Locoweed is named for the color of its flowers, which resemble those of peas or beans.
Three of the more common kinds are the white, purple, and blue locoweed. Some of the other plants poisonous to cattle and other livestock are larkspur, water hemlock, castor bean, white snakeroot and jimson weed.
None of the poisonous plants are particularly liked by cattle or other range animas. Many of the plants look, smell or taste disagreeable. If plenty of other feed is available in their pastures, the animals usually avoid these dangerous plants and do not eat them unless they are very hungry.
Photo courtesy: dereila
