bracken - for Macro Mondays 'poison'
From Wikipedia:
Poisoning
The plant is carcinogenic to animals such as mice, rats, horses and cattle when ingested, although they will usually avoid it unless nothing else is available. Young stems are quite commonly used as a vegetable in China, Japan and Korea. However, some researchers suspect a link between consumption and higher stomach cancer rates.[11] The spores have also been implicated as a carcinogen. Danish scientist Lars Holm Rasmussen released a study in 2004 showing that the carcinogenic compound in bracken, ptaquiloside or PTA, can leach from the plant into the water supply, which may explain an increase in the incidence of gastric and esophageal cancers in bracken-rich areas.[14]
In cattle, bracken poisoning can occur in both an acute and chronic form, acute poisoning being the most common. In pigs and horses bracken poisoning induces vitamin B deficiency.[15] Poisoning usually occurs when there is a shortage of available grasses such as in drought or snowfalls.
Along with the DNA damage caused by ptaquiloside it is shown that chemicals in the fern can damage blood cells and can destroy Vitamin B1. This in turn causes beriberi, a disease normally linked to nutritional deficiency.
Hydrogen cyanide is released by the young fronds of bracken when eaten by mammals or insects.[16] Two major insect moulting hormones, alpha ecdysone and 20-hydroxyecdysone, are found in bracken. These cause uncontrollable, repeated moulting in insects ingesting the fronds, leading to rapid death.[17]
bracken - for Macro Mondays 'poison'
From Wikipedia:
Poisoning
The plant is carcinogenic to animals such as mice, rats, horses and cattle when ingested, although they will usually avoid it unless nothing else is available. Young stems are quite commonly used as a vegetable in China, Japan and Korea. However, some researchers suspect a link between consumption and higher stomach cancer rates.[11] The spores have also been implicated as a carcinogen. Danish scientist Lars Holm Rasmussen released a study in 2004 showing that the carcinogenic compound in bracken, ptaquiloside or PTA, can leach from the plant into the water supply, which may explain an increase in the incidence of gastric and esophageal cancers in bracken-rich areas.[14]
In cattle, bracken poisoning can occur in both an acute and chronic form, acute poisoning being the most common. In pigs and horses bracken poisoning induces vitamin B deficiency.[15] Poisoning usually occurs when there is a shortage of available grasses such as in drought or snowfalls.
Along with the DNA damage caused by ptaquiloside it is shown that chemicals in the fern can damage blood cells and can destroy Vitamin B1. This in turn causes beriberi, a disease normally linked to nutritional deficiency.
Hydrogen cyanide is released by the young fronds of bracken when eaten by mammals or insects.[16] Two major insect moulting hormones, alpha ecdysone and 20-hydroxyecdysone, are found in bracken. These cause uncontrollable, repeated moulting in insects ingesting the fronds, leading to rapid death.[17]