White Locoweed - Oxytropis sericea - Boulder County, CO - May 2016
Photographed at Picture Rock Trail, Heil Ranch. This species of legume ranges from western North America from Yukon and British Columbia south through the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains.
Per Wikipedia:
This plant is a common cause of poisoning in livestock in North America. Locoweed poisoning is "the most widespread poisonous plant problem in the western United States." Locoweeds cause locoism, a disease state resulting from chronic neurological damage. Symptoms of locoism include depression, blindness, loss of coordination, emaciation, tremors, paralysis, constipation, deterioration of the coat, decreased libido, abortion, seizures, and death.
Oddly, Animals affected include cattle, sheep, horses, goats, and wildlife such as elk and mule deer. Horses are very susceptible to the poisoning, and do not recover from locoism. Cattle, sheep, and horses find the plant palatable and even preferable to other forages, even when grass is readily available. They may become chemically addicted to the plant.Cattle tend to prefer the flowers and fruits of the plants, which contain higher levels of swainsonine than the leaves. One to three months of heavy exposure can cause death.
Yowza. Stay away from the Locoweed. That was what my mother used to tell me, anyway
White Locoweed - Oxytropis sericea - Boulder County, CO - May 2016
Photographed at Picture Rock Trail, Heil Ranch. This species of legume ranges from western North America from Yukon and British Columbia south through the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains.
Per Wikipedia:
This plant is a common cause of poisoning in livestock in North America. Locoweed poisoning is "the most widespread poisonous plant problem in the western United States." Locoweeds cause locoism, a disease state resulting from chronic neurological damage. Symptoms of locoism include depression, blindness, loss of coordination, emaciation, tremors, paralysis, constipation, deterioration of the coat, decreased libido, abortion, seizures, and death.
Oddly, Animals affected include cattle, sheep, horses, goats, and wildlife such as elk and mule deer. Horses are very susceptible to the poisoning, and do not recover from locoism. Cattle, sheep, and horses find the plant palatable and even preferable to other forages, even when grass is readily available. They may become chemically addicted to the plant.Cattle tend to prefer the flowers and fruits of the plants, which contain higher levels of swainsonine than the leaves. One to three months of heavy exposure can cause death.
Yowza. Stay away from the Locoweed. That was what my mother used to tell me, anyway