If your skin comes into contact with milkweed sap, you should immediately wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water. The sap from the plant can also cause skin and eye irritation. After grazing on milkweed in a field, sheep can develop difficulty walking, seizures, and death. Milkweed is potentially poisonous to humans as well as animals. Severe toxicity includes seizures, heart rhythm changes, and severe slowing of the heart rate. Initial symptoms consist of stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, weakness, lethargy, and confusion. When swallowed, symptoms of milkweed toxicity usually appear within a few hours. Eating milkweed, even when cooked or boiled, is not recommended and is potentially very dangerous. However, there is no evidence that this is correct. Some of those websites state that the cardiac glycosides present in milkweed are water soluble, making milkweed safe to eat if cooked properly. Unfortunately, even though milkweed is recognized as a poisonous plant, there are multiple websites that provide recipes for the preparation of fried milkweed pods, milkweed shoots, and milkweed elixir. Due to the prevalence of the plant, exposure to milkweed plants is very common. However, cardiac glycosides have narrow therapeutic windows, meaning small changes in dosage can result in large differences in toxicity. Milkweed has been used by indigenous peoples for swelling and rashes, diarrhea, and respiratory issues. The plant is most toxic just before it reaches maturity.Ĭardiac glycoside-containing plants have been used since ancient times for medical purposes. The highest concentrations of cardiac glycosides are found in the plant's latex fluid followed by the stems, leaves, and roots. All parts of the plant contain toxic cardiac glycosides. When the fruit pods mature and turn brown, they burst and release the seeds. The plant is most easily identified by its distinctive pod-like fruit containing densely packed seeds. Monarch butterflies cannot survive without milkweed their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants, and adult monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs. There are over 200 species in the Asclepias genus that are native to Africa, North America, and South America. The Asclepias genus is a group of perennial flowering herbs also known as milkweed due to their milky sap.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |