Wild Tobacco
Wild Tobacco
Solanum species - wild tobacco, devil's apple and box thorn are common examples in the Dayboro area.
Description
- species range from annual herbs to large, soft-wooded shrubs
- all have star-shaped, 5-lobed (or sometimes 4-lobed) flowers in shades of white or blue to purple
- the fruits are succulent, with numerous flattened seeds, usually in a juicy pulp - green, yellow, red or black when ripe
- many species have straight or curved prickles on the stems, leaves or calyx of the flowers
Toxicity, Symptoms and Lesions
- safer to assume that any species of Solanum is potentially poisonous unless determined otherwise
- applies at least to the leaves and immature fruits
- ripe fruits of many species appear to be fairly safe
- intensely irritant to the gastrointestinal tract
- Main sign is diarrhoea, sometimes bloodstained
- associated with loss of appetite and nause
- not readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract
- intoxicated animals sometimes die within a short time but often they recover.
- in some cases the pupils are dilated, in others they are not affected
- some animals that show nervous symptoms may recover after a few days
- others may become emaciated with a rough coat, loss of appetite, constipation and abdominal dropsy
Management
- hungry stock should not be given access to plants
Differential Diagnoses
- gastrointestinal tract syndrome: worm infestations, white scours (calves <14days old), bacteria, coccidia, cryptospordiosis, viral causes, mouldy feed, lead poisoning, Johne’s disease, vitamin A deficiency, plant toxicities (bracken fern poisoning) central nervous system syndrome: lead poisoning, nitrate poisoning, sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis and transmissible serositis complex, ketosis, babesiosis (tick fever), plant toxicities (Swainsona), pyrrolizidine alkaloid poisoning (eg Crotalaria toxicity), vitamin A deficiency