Burrows George E. - Toxic Plants of North America

This edition first published 2013 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

First edition published 2001 Iowa State University Press

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burrows, George E. (George Edward), 1935

Toxic plants of North America / George E. Burrows, Ronald J. Tyrl. 2nd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8138-2034-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Poisonous plantsNorth America. I. Tyrl, Ronald J. II. Title.

QK100.N6B87 2013

581.6'59097dc23

2012015386

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Chapter One

Introduction

We humans have an intimate relationship with the plants that surround us. We take them for granted as we use them for food, clothes, and shelter. We use them medicinally; indeed, more than one-third of our modern pharmacopoeia has its origins in plant products. We please our senses, decorate our living spaces, and express our feelings for one another with them. Plants are an essential part of many of our religious and social rites. Paradoxically, some of the plants we prize for these varied uses may also pose a threat to us or to our domesticated animals. Toxic plants are very much a part of our environment. Until their effects, ranging from mild irritation or discomfort to rapid death, become apparent, they are often ignored or simply overlooked. Because of their ubiquity, there is a need for a comprehensive treatment of toxic plants likely to be encountered in North America, north of the Tropic of Cancer, growing wild or cultivated. The first edition of this book was written in response to that need.

The objective of this undertaking was to write a comprehensive treatment of toxic plants that brought together the currently available information on (1) their morphology and distribution, (2) the disease problem or problems associated with them, (3) their toxicants and mechanisms of action, (4) the clinical signs and pathologic changes associated with their toxicity, and (5) the principal aspects of treatment. The perspective of the first edition was primarily veterinary science.

Compilation of the information presented in the first edition began in the 1980s as a series of articles for the Oklahoma Veterinarian and an agricultural extension publication, Poisonous Plants of Oklahoma and the Southern Plains . Well received, these publications dealt primarily with native plants and their toxicity for livestock. Initially, the present book was anticipated to do the same for the United States. Gradually, however, its scope and depth of coverage evolvedlarger area, more plant families, and greater detail than first envisioned. These changes came about in part because of the increasing popularity of ornamental plants for both house and garden. There has been a corresponding increase in awareness of toxicity problems associated with some of them.

In the 11 years since publication of the first edition, a wealth of toxicologic information has been compiledunknown toxicants identified, mechanisms of intoxication elucidated, and additional reports of problems published. In addition, there has been a corresponding increase in taxonomic knowledge with significant changes in the classification of plant families and genera and associated changes in nomenclature. Because of this almost exponential increase in our knowledge of toxic plants, work on a second edition was initiated in 2009.

In addition to compiling and presenting the literature of the last decade, we have also slightly altered the perspective of this edition. We have included information about four additional aspects of plant toxicology; they are summarized in the following subsections.

The first edition focused primarily on veterinary science because of our professional backgrounds and the need for such a book in the discipline. In this second edition we have attempted to place increased emphasis on human intoxications because the information acquired about both humans and other animals is often interrelated and supportive. For the most part, plant intoxications in humans, while not uncommon, do not pose the lethal risk (with the exception of Datura and Cicuta ) seen with livestock and other animals, but they nevertheless may be numerous and sometimes serious as revealed in annual reports from Poison Control Centers (Litovitz et al. 2001; Bronstein et al. 2007). It may be expected that in most instances similar disease problems will occur in both humans and animals with a few exceptions.