Fiddleneck
General poisoning notes:
Fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia) is an introduced plant found in parts of western Canada. Ingestion can cause severe diseases in horses, swine, and cattle. Hepatic cirrhosis results from ingesting the seeds of the plant. The symptoms are termed walking disease in horses and are known as hard liver disease in swine and cattle. These diseases were present mainly in California and the Pacific Northwest. With the advent of herbicides, the problems have mostly disappeared (Woolsey et al. 1952, Cheeke and Schull 1985).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Amsinckia intermedia Fisch & Mey.
Vernacular name(s): fiddleneck
Scientific family name: Boraginaceae
Vernacular family name: borage
Amsinckia intermedia Fisch & Mey.
Geographic Information
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory.
Toxic parts:
Seeds
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
The pyrrolizidine alkaloids of fiddleneck cause hepatic cirrhosis in cattle, swine, and horses, mainly a result of the presence of the seeds in grain and grain screenings fed to livestock. With modern herbicides, the problem has disappeared (Cheeke and Schull 1985).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Echiumine, intermedine, lycopsamine.
Echiumine
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.
Cattle
General symptoms of poisoning:
Abdominal pains, death, icterus, liver, cirrhosis of
Horses
General symptoms of poisoning:
Death, hemoglobinuria, icterus, liver, cirrhosis of
Swine
General symptoms of poisoning:
Abdomen, distended, anemia, appetite, loss of, ascites, death, icterus, liver, cirrhosis of
prostration, weakness, weight gain, reduced, weight loss.
