Re: RC: Re: Locoweed is Jimsonweed

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

OK, Donna
This did it! None of all the pictures so far in any way resemble my
locoweed so I combed through my bookcases and found the weed book: Weeds
of the West by a bunch of weed specialists, actually-- several: Parker,
Lee... et. al Published by the Western Society of Weed Science.
On page 340 (which you can't see obviously) is a picture of the bane of
my existence in New Cuyama (listed in their index as locoweed and
TECHNICAL name is Fabaceae AKA Silky Crazyweed and Lambert crazyweed 
AKA O.lamberti Pursh, of the pea family. A rose by any other name.....
This is the type you find ALL over the New Cuyama area although I've
never seen it anywhere else. I've heard New Cuyama and Taft referred to
as the "meth amphetamine capital of CA" with occasional busts here and
there. Perhaps there is some correlation between the drug leaching out
into the soil and the thriving locoweed population :-)
Bette (who hopes she is not flamed by Cuyama residents)
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of 16.2hh TLA Halynov	
(Yes, really 16.2!)
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com
"guest@endurance.net" wrote:
> 
> Donna Dochterman dokadaarabians@earthlink.net
> Hi Bette,
> 
> That was by no means intended to be an exhaustive list of the poisonous plants called by the common name of locoweed.  You may be thinking of a  Lathyrus spp.  http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/poison/ppstslsweet.htm  While I, myself, have not heard them called locoweed, they are toxic and it would not surprise me to hear that term used for them. The flowering annual known as sweetpea is one of this species (Lathyrus odoratus).  I believe horses are more susceptible to poisoning from this plant than most other species.
> 
> Oxytropis sericea is another highly toxic plant that I know is known by the common name of locoweed.  Picture at http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/whitelocoweed.html  Oxytropis spp. causes the same symptoms as Astragalus spp. as it contains the same toxic chemical.  I was guilty of guessing that the plant Anne was looking for was Astragalus mollissimus simply because locoweed is the only common name I have heard applied to that plant.  Obviously, that is not necessarily the one she is looking for.  I bet there are a wide variety of plants around this country someone, somewhere calls locoweed.
> 
> Donna Dochterman
> Dokada Arabians
> http://members.tripod.com/~DokadaArabians/index.html
> 
> "Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better.
> Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills.
> Don't wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom."
> Jim Rohn
> 
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