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
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
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
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