In Practice 2: 22-31 (1980)
© 1980 British Veterinary Association

Is it plant poisoning ?

The first three references are particularly useful on the toxicological aspects of the subject and the last three can help greatly in the identification of plants.

Eyebrows may be raised at the inclusion of frothy bloat and fog fever, but both diseases follow the consumption of normal food plants which have become harmful in special circumstances.

My suggestion that excessive green fodder may lead to photosensitisation may also cause displeasure, but in many incidents I have thought that a normal liver may have been unable to metabolise all of the phylloerythrin formed in those circumstances.

The causal relationship of bracken with alimentary cancer in cattle may not be proven, but the circumstantial evidence is so strong that I have felt justified in choosing it as an example of delayed poisoning.

I have made only brief reference to the presence of poisonous plants in preserved foods and none to the fascinating and difficult subject of mycotoxicosis.

The photographs in this article were reproduced by kind permission of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.