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
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.
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