PRIMULACEÆ (PRIMROSE FAMILY).
Anagallis arvensis.—The pimpernel is a European plant which has obtained a specially strong foothold in California, where it grows luxuriantly and is sometimes known as poison weed. It is suspected of having caused the death of a horse at Santa Ana. Chemists have isolated a powerfully poisonous oil and a strongly active ferment from the plant.
OLEACEÆ (OLIVE FAMILY).
Ligustrum vulgare.—The privet, or prim, is a garden shrub, introduced from Europe and Asia, which is much used for hedges, and has escaped from cultivation in western New York and southward to North Carolina. Accidents have been occasioned in children both by the fruit and the leaves. The plant is to be suspected in cases of poisoning in animals.
APOCYNACEÆ (DOGBANE FAMILY).
Apocynum androsæmifolium, spreading dogbane: A. cannabinum, Indian hemp.—These plants are generally distributed throughout the United States. Stock generally avoid them in pasture fields on account of their acrid milky juice. When dry they are not so poisonous as when in the fresh state.
Nerium oleander.—The oleander is a common house plant throughout a large portion of the United States. It grows freely out of doors in the Southern and Western States, and has probably escaped from cultivation in some places. It grows wild in northern Mexico. The leaves are well known to be most powerfully poisonous, and stock are occasionally killed by eating them.
ASCLEPIADACEÆ (MILKWEED FAMILY).
Fig. 109.—Jimson weed (Datura stramonium). a, Flowering spray; b, fruiting capsule—both one-third natural size.