Dichapetalum cymosum (Dichapetalum cymosum)
Description
Dichapetalum cymosum, commonly known as gifblaar from Afrikaans, or occasionally its English translation, poison leaf, is a small prostrate shrub occurring in the northern parts of Southern Africa. It is notable as a common cause of lethal cattle poisoning in this region and is considered one of the 'big 6' toxic plants of cattle in South Africa. A 1996 estimate of plant poisonings in South Africa attributes 8% of cattle mortality caused by poisonous plants to gifblaar. The majority (70%) of fatal cases are in Limpopo province, with 10% each in North West, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng. Fluoroacetate (the poison used to synthetically produce Compound 1080) occurs in all parts of the plant and is responsible for the toxic effects shown. Dichapetalum cymosum was first recognised as toxic by the early Voortrekkers entering the Transvaal, who were probably alerted to its lethality by natives living in the region.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum:
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Malpighiales
-
-
Family: Dichapetalaceae
-
-
Genus: Dichapetalum
-
-
-
-
-
-
