Velvety goldenrod
General poisoning notes:
Velvety goldenrod (Solidago mollis) is a native herb found in the southern prairie provinces. This plant was fed experimentally to sheep, killing them. The corrosive resins have caused weight loss in calves, sheep, and small laboratory animals. The toxin has not been determined. In the United States, some other goldenrods (Solidago spp.) were shown to be poisonous. The presence of a fungal rust on the plants was implicated in the poisoning (Beath et al. 1953, Kingsbury 1964).
Description:
Plantsloosely clustered, 10–50 (–70) cm; rhizomes creeping. Stems 1 (at ends of rhizomes), ascending to erect, grayish green, moderately to densely finely strigilloso-puberulent. Leaves: basal and proximal often withering by flowering, gradually tapering to winged petioles 1 / 2 length of leaf, blades 45–100 × 10–35 mm, proximalmost much smaller, margins serrate, faces moderately finely scabroso-strigillose; mid and distal cauline sessile, blades elliptic to lanceolate or ovate, 10–60 × 4–20 mm, sometimes much reduced distally, firm, thickish, margins serrate to entire, strongly 3-nerved or sometimes brochidodromous, faces moderately finely strigillose. Heads(5–)50–300, in compact thyrsiform to secund-pyramidal paniculiform arrays, proximal branches ascending, sometimes apically recurved or branches spreading, recurved, secund. Peduncles 0.5–3 mm, moderately to densely finely hispiduloso-strigillose; bracteoles 0–3 , lanceolate, strigillose, grading into phyllaries. Involucres campanulate, 3–6 mm. Phyllaries in 3–4 series, lanceolate to oblong (to 1.5 mm wide), strongly unequal, margins ciliate, apices acute to obtuse, glabrous. Ray florets 6–10; laminae 1–2 × 0.2–0.6 mm. Disc florets 3–8; corollas 2.4–3.8 mm, lobes 0.7–1.2 mm. Cypselae(cylindro-obconic) 1.5–2 mm, sparsely strigillose; pappi ca. 2–3 mm. 2n= 18, 36, 54.
Solidago mollis Bartl.
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Solidago mollis Bartl.
Vernacular name(s): velvety goldenrod, velvet goldenrod, soft goldenrod
Scientific family name: Compositae
Vernacular family name: composite
Geographic Information:
Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan.
Toxic parts:
Leaves, stems.
Toxic plant chemicals:
Unknown chemical.
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:
Weight loss.
Notes on poisoning:
Administering small amounts of the resin to calves caused a loss of body weight. The same resin given to small laboratory animals caused severe weight loss (Beath et al. 1953).
Sheep
General symptoms of poisoning:
Breathing, rapid, death, nausea, vomiting.
Notes on poisoning:
Doses of 0.45 kg of partly dried plant material given 4 h apart caused death in 12 h. Symptoms included nausea, vomiting, distress, and accelerated respiration. Small amounts of the corrosive resin caused a loss of body weight (Beath et al. 1953).
