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).

References:

Beath, O. A., Gilbert, C. S., Eppson, H. F., Rosenfeld, I. 1953. Poisonous plants and livestock poisoning. Wyo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull., 324. 94 pp.

Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA. 626 pp.

Nomenclature:

Scientific Name: Solidago mollis Bartl.
 

Vernacular name(s): velvety goldenrod

Scientific family name: Compositae

Vernacular family name: composite

Go to ITIS*^ca for more taxonomic information on: Solidago mollis

References:

Agriculture Quebec. 1975. Noms des maladies des plantes du Canada/ Names of plant diseases in Canada. , Quebec City, Que., Canada. 288 pp.

Alex, J. F., Cayouette, R., Mulligan, G. A. 1980. Common and botanical names of weeds in Canada/Noms populaire et scientifiques des plantes nuisibles du Canada. Revised. Agric. Can. Publ., Ottawa, Ont., Canada. 132 pp.

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Scoggan, H. J. 1978, 1979. The flora of Canada. Nat. Mus. Nat. Sci. (Ottawa) Publ. Bot. 7(1)-7(4). 1711 pp.

Van Wijk, H. L. 1911. A dictionary of plant names. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, The Netherlands. 1444 pp.

Victorin, M. 1964. Flore Laurentienne. 2nd ed. Univ. Montreal, Montreal, Que., Canada. 952 pp.

Geographic Information

Alberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
 

References:

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Boivin, B. 1966, 1967. Énumération des plantes du Canada. Provencheria 6. Nat. Can. (Que.) 93: 253-274; 371-437; 583-646; 989-1063. 94: 131-157; 471-528; 625-655.

Image or illustration

velvety goldenrod:

Images: images.google.com

Toxic parts:

leaves
stems
 

References:

Beath, O. A., Gilbert, C. S., Eppson, H. F., Rosenfeld, I. 1953. Poisonous plants and livestock poisoning. Wyo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull., 324. 94 pp.

Toxic plant chemicals:

unknown chemical
 

References:

Beath, O. A., Gilbert, C. S., Eppson, H. F., Rosenfeld, I. 1953. Poisonous plants and livestock poisoning. Wyo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull., 324. 94 pp.

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).

References:

Beath, O. A., Gilbert, C. S., Eppson, H. F., Rosenfeld, I. 1953. Poisonous plants and livestock poisoning. Wyo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull., 324. 94 pp.

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).

References:

Beath, O. A., Gilbert, C. S., Eppson, H. F., Rosenfeld, I. 1953. Poisonous plants and livestock poisoning. Wyo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull., 324. 94 pp.