Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List - Horse Plants Toxic to Horses Adam-and-Eve (Arum, Lord-and-Ladies, Wake Robin, Starch Root, Bobbins, Cuckoo Plant) | Scientific Names: Arum maculatum | Family: Araceae A strong poisoning may even be fatal. The dose, as always, determines if a plant is safe source of nutrients or a toxic hazard. Some contain compounds that can kill, even in small doses. Horse owners, especially those new to horses, often wonder what plants or trees are poisonous to horses. In addition, poisonous plants do not always harm animals when eaten. But the plant family for lupines etc are big and it really depends on a lot of things. Not all poisonous plants taste bad, and they are not found only on overgrazed ranges and pastures. Table 3. Like locoweeds, it is difficult for even the experts to distinguish the toxic plants from the non-toxic, so you should assume that all lupines are harmful if eaten. For example, plants such as lupine and greasewood may be part of an animal’s diet, and the animal is poisoned only when it consumes too much of the plant too fast. Poisonous plants contain toxic compounds that can injure animals. Trees and plants that are poisonous to horses can be very dangerous and identifying the harmful plants is paramount to keeping horses happy and healthy. Goats are quite resistant to the toxic effects of lupines. And, as disquieting as it may be to contemplate, the chances are pretty good that at least some are toxic to horses. To protect your animals from poisoning, learn to identify the poisonous plants that grow in your pasture or rangeland. The following is a guide of several plants that can be found growing in Spokane County and the Pacific Northwest that are poisonous to horses and livestock. Although some species are non poisonous, it is best to remove any lupin from the horses grazing as they are not easy to tell apart. Highest concentrations are found in the seeds. PLANTS THAT ARE TOXIC TO HORSES AND LIVESTOCK . When an animal goes off feed, loses weight or appears unhealthy, poisonous plants may be the cause. Recognizing poisonous plants and properly managing animals and pastures will help minimize the potential of poisoning animals. Some manifestations of toxicity are subtle. PLEASE NOTE: "Poisonous" does not mean deadly. While poisonous throughout the year, young lupines and those going to seed are the most toxic. Danger to horses Horses that eat corn containing toxic fumonisin levels develop moldy corn poisoning, or equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM), a … Lupines are very palatable to horses with the young leaves and shoots being both the most tasty AND the most poisonous. Hemlock: Highly toxic plant that contains a deadly poison that affects horses and other animals, including humans. "I defy anyone to tell me they have a pasture with zero poisonous plants," says Jeffery Hall, DVM, PhD, a toxicologist at Utah State University. Anagyrine is the principle teratogenic alkaloid found in wild lupine species (not in grain lupines). Lupine Toxic Principle Quinolizidine alkaloids. Sheep most susceptible, but cattle, and horses also susceptible. Hundreds of poisonous plants grow in North America, and many are extremely common. St. John's wort: Poisonous for horses' liver, it causes a specific type of liver damage that ends up causing hypersensitivity to sunlight manifested in sores in the unpigmented areas of skin. the Lupines that grow in CA are toxic. Toxic dosage for selected livestock-poisoning plants in California Plant Toxic dosage Cattle Sheep Horses Comments arrowgrass 1.5% bw 5 –2% bw no data Flowering spikes have twice the amount of toxin and require one-half the dosage.