Jimsonweed

Identifying Characteristics:

• Quickest identifier is to rub the leaves with your hand, then smell your hand (Jimsonweed has a unique scent)
• Leaves are typically 3-8 inches long, smooth, toothed, soft, and irregularly wavy
• Stem is strong, erect, smooth, and pale yellow-green to reddish purple in color
• Can grow up to 5 ft tall
• The flowers are tubular and white or violet
• The fruit is a capsule that has prickles covering it

Plant Longevity:

• Annual

Where Commonly Found:

• Fertile soils where other plants are scarce
• Pastures
• Wood lines
• Waste areas

Time of Most Concern:

• During entire growth cycle, with seeds being most poisonous

Compound that Causes Concern:

• Hyoscyamine – an isomer of atropine (an isomer is a molecule that is transformed into another molecule that has exactly the same atoms, but the atoms are rearranged)
• L-hyoscine – epoxidized hyoscyamine (an epoxide is a cyclic ether, where the ether forms a three-atom ring: two atoms of carbon and one atom of oxygen)

Part of Plant Most Toxic:

• Entire plant is toxic; seeds most often implicated

Livestock Species Affected:

• Cattle
• Sheep
• Goats
• Swine

Pasture, Stored Feed, Both:

• Both

Clinical Signs:

• Hypothermia
• Increased pulse and respiration
• In some cases, as pulse increases, respiration can decrease
• Depression
• Weakness
• Tremors
• Recumbency
• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Digestive issues
• Diarrhea
• Weight loss
• Nausea
• Dilated pupils

Amount Needed to be Consumed for Clinical Signs / Death:

• Pigs appear to be very sensitive to seeds; .000035 oz - .000043 oz per lb body weight reported to cause toxic signs
  
  • That equates to 0.007 oz in a 200 lb hog
• Toxic signs seen in cattle consuming seeds at 0.06-0.09% of body weight/day
  • That equates to 0.6-0.9 lbs in a 1,000 lb cow