Purple cockle
General poisoning notes:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma githago) is a naturalized herb found across southern Canada. The seeds are contaminants of wheat seeds and they are considered to be poisonous to poultry, cattle, and humans. Human poisoning is rare. Feeding trials have been conducted with ground seeds, which are unappetizing to poultry (Quigley and Waite 1931).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Agrostemma githago L.
Vernacular name(s): purple cockle
Scientific family name: Caryophyllaceae
Vernacular family name: pink
Agrostemma githago L.
Geographic Information
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan.
Toxic parts:
Seeds.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma githago) contains the saponin githagin, which is toxic mainly to poultry. The toxin is destroyed in seeds at 50 C. The following quantities have been found to be toxic in experiments with animals:
calf 0.0025% of body weight, poultry 0.0025% , pig 0.0010%, dog 0.0009%
Most feeding experiments have been conducted on chickens (Quigley and Waite 1931; Heuser and Schumacher 1942).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Githagenin (aka Githagin, aka Gypsogenin) is one of a number toxic of triterpene saponins present in Corn-cockle. Agrostemmic Acid
is another. Together with a non-protein amino acid, orcylalanin and a lectin agrostin make the seeds of Corn-cockle especially poisonous, but all parts of the plant contain some toxins. Formerly widespread as a weed amongst cereal crops, the seeds of Corn-cockle presented a particular contaminatory hazard to the harvest. The seeds are lethal in amounts greater than just 5 grams. Symptoms include mucosal irritation, dizziness, vomiting, diarhoea, respiratory distress, headache, pains in the spine, tachycardia, paralysis coma followed by death. Poisoning of humans and livestock used to be a common occurrence, but after several decades of herbicidal spraying, it is more or less extinct in arable fields.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.
Humans
General symptoms of poisoning:
Breathing, shallow, diarrhea, dizziness, stomach cramps, vomiting, weakness.
Notes on poisoning:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma githago) seeds can contaminate wheat because the seeds are difficult to screen. Highly contaminated wheat is unsalable. The seeds are a danger if present in home-ground wheat, corn, or oats (Hardin and Arena 1969).
Poultry
General symptoms of poisoning:
appetite, loss of
breathing, labored
death
diarrhea
gait, staggering
heart, cheesy material
mouth, cheesy material.
