Scarlet pimpernel
General poisoning notes:
Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) is a naturalized plant found across parts of southern Canada. The plant contains several toxins that have poisoned livestock, and an irritant in the plant hairs can cause allergies in humans. The occurrence of poisoning appears to depend on unknown conditions, which may account for the conflicting literature reports. However, the plant has been implicated in enough cases of poisoning to be treated as a potentially toxic plant (Cooper and Johnson 1984, Fuller and McClintock 1986).
Description
Perennial or annual, without rosettes, not stoloniferous; stems creeping to weakly erect, 5–30 cm long, glabrous, angular with 4 longitudinal keels.
Leaves opposite, ovate to oblong-ovate, occasionally narrowly so, usually 5–25 mm long; sessile.
Corolla 5-lobed, 5–12 mm diam., red, pink, orange or blue. Filaments villous with multicellular hairs; staminodes lacking.
Capsule 5-ridged, 3–5 mm diam.
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Anagallis arvensis L.
Vernacular name(s): scarlet pimpernel
Scientific family name: Primulaceae
Vernacular family name: primrose
Anagallis arvensis L.
Geographic Information
Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec.
Toxic parts:
All parts.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
Scarlet pimpernel contains a triterpenoid saponin in the above- ground plant parts, a glycoside (cyclamine) in the roots, and an acrid volatile oil. The plant hairs contain primin, which can cause human dermatitis (Perkins and Payne 1987, Cooper and Johnson 1984).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Cyclamin.
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.
