Golden-chain
General poisoning notes:
Golden-chain (Laburnum anagyroides) is an outdoor ornamental that survives only in southwestern Ontario and coastal British Columbia. This plant contains cytisine, an alkaloid, which has caused poisoning and death in cattle, dogs, horses, swine, and humans after twigs, fruit pods, and seeds were ingested. Most of the cases of poisoning are found in European literature. Children and family pets should be prevented from ingesting the pods or seeds (Cooper and Johnson 1984, Lampe and McCann 1985, Fuller and McClintock 1986).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Laburnum anagyroides Medic.
Vernacular name(s): golden-chain
Scientific family name: Leguminosae
Vernacular family name: pea
Laburnum anagyroides Medic.
Geographic Information
Plant or plant parts used in or around the home.
Notes on Poisonous plant parts:
All parts of the plant contain the alkaloid cytisine, but the bark and seeds have the highest amount of the chemical. The leaves become less toxic as the fruit pods develop, which become more toxic (Cooper and Johnson 1984).
Toxic parts:
All parts, bark, leaves, seeds.
Toxic plant chemicals:
cytisine
Cytisine
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:
Death, gait, unsteady, muscle spasms, recumbency.
Notes on poisoning:
Ingesting twigs and pods of golden-chain have produced toxic symptoms including stiff, unsteady gait, violent tremors, recumbency, and death. Milk yield has been reduced, and large yellow clots were found in the milk (Cooper and Johnson 1984).
Dogs
General symptoms of poisoning:
Convulsions, death
Notes on poisoning:
Dogs that were poisoned experienced convulsions and died after chewing golden-chain sticks (Cooper and Johnson 1984).
Horses
General symptoms of poisoning:
Abdominal pains, coma, death, incoordination, muscle spasms.
Humans
General symptoms of poisoning:
Abdominal pains, confusion, death, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, mouth, irritation of, nausea, temperature, elevated, vomiting.
Notes on poisoning:
Most cases of human poisoning occur when children eat the pods or seeds by mistake. Symptoms develop rapidly within half an hour because cytisine is rapidly absorbed through mucous membranes of the mouth, stomach, and intestine. Nausea, vomiting, pupil dilation, weakness, breathing difficulty, dizziness, and muscular incoordination can result. Ingesting large quantities can be fatal. In one case, a man ingested 23 pods of golden-chain and died. Toxicological analysis showed that 35-50 mg of cytisine had been absorbed (Cooper and Johnson 1984, Fuller and McClintock 1986).
Swine
General symptoms of poisoning:
Diarrhea
