Today is another Monday and I’ve officially designated it Toxic Plant Day (until I get through the alphabet, that is). Today a closer look at the strangely attractive (in a spiny, sharp sort of way) Burdock.
A Little About Burdock
Arctium minus is Burdock, a biennial weed which grows from a taproot, has heart shaped, hairy leaves, delicate lavender flowers on the top of spiny hair covered burrs.
How Dangerous Is It?
This is another plant that just looks dangerous, those spines are a clear warning sign and that message is probably clear to the animal kingdom. However, horses will eat anything when they are desperate or during drought conditions. This isn’t actually a toxic plant, it’s really just a dangerous one. If ingested the burrs can do a great deal of damage to the upper gastrointestinal tract.
The burrs of this plant aren’t toxic, but they can do a lot of damage to your equine.
What To Look For
You know your animal the best, so you should know when something is amiss. Burdock ingestion symptoms can include slobbering, frothing, drooling, obvious irritation of the skin, eyes, mouth, nose or ear.
Learn More
Be sure to check out the Burdock page to learn more about the plant and while you are at it why not check out more toxic plants?
*It should be noted that I’m not a veterinarian. This information is written specifically for horses and should be used for reference purposes only. If you think your horse has eaten something toxic call your vet right away.
Very interesting