Fig. 106.—Stagger bush (Pieris mariana), showing flowering branch, one-third natural size.
Fig. 107.—Great laurel (Rhododendron maximum). a, Flowering branch; b, fruiting capsules—both one-third natural size.
* Leucothoë catesbæi.—This is the branch ivy, hemlock, or calf-kill, of the Allegheny Mountains. It is well known in that region to be fatal to all kinds of stock.
* Leucothoë racemosa.—The swamp Leucothoë of the Atlantic and Gulf States has been reported from New Jersey as especially fatal to calves.
* Pieris mariana.—The stagger bush of the Atlantic Coast region, Tennessee, and Arkansas is commonly known to be poisonous to calves and to sheep. The name stagger bush was applied to the shrub on account of the peculiar intoxicating effect of the leaves.
* Rhododendron californicum.—The California rhododendron is native on the Pacific Slope from San Francisco to British Columbia. The plant is reported from Oregon as poisonous to sheep. It is quite probable that the leaves contain andromedotoxin, but they have not been tested.
Fig. 108.—Milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), one-sixth natural size.
* Rhododendron maximum.—The great laurel (rosebay; mountain laurel; rhododendron) is a large evergreen bush or small tree which is quite commonly cultivated for ornament, and is found native in the Allegheny Mountains. The leaves contain andromedotoxin, and they are occasionally eaten by stock with fatal effect.