"Neil Jones" wrote in message
om...
I am sorry about those who object to people starting new threads but
If my news service is anything to go by things are getting muddled and
lost.
This is an important point and much environmental damage can be done
and public money wasted as well us unnecessay worry caused.

Yes. As a scientist who has extensively studied the subject,I believe
that "hysteria" is the correct word to use. It is of course
understandable that people should have a concern for their precious
animals but there is little rational need for extreme concern and it
is hard to avoid the conclusion that people are being manipulated.
Certainly there will have been no harm done to certain organisations'
public profile. On the balance of the scientific eveidence there is
little cause for people to remove it from their lawns. Indeed there is
a good basis for leaving it alone.

On the basis that the rosette stage does not bear flowers and ultimately
seeds your assertation is just about acceptable however a "good" lawn will
consist of grasses and hopefully be clear of broad leaf weeds so regardless
of your sympathies for Ragwort I suggest its removal can never come into
the area of leaving it alone being a good thing.


There are certain researched facts that well support the contention
that this is hysteria. First of all there is the level of toxicity of
the plant. This is actually quite low. The toxic dose for a large
animal is in the order of several stone. This has been determined by
experimentation and one horse is known to have eaten over 20% of its
body weight of the plant and survived!. Of course horses eat a lot but
this puts the level of toxicity into context. This is not cyanide we
are taking about but a mildly toxic plant.

Which contains an alkoid poison demonstrated to cause liver damage. Even if
a toxic dose requires a lot of digestion a small sustained dose does cause
liver damage leading to many deaths being commonly ascribed to liver
failure rather than Ragwort poisoning. A horse managing to eat a large
amount of Ragwort and survive may still be far from healthy and even though
alive, suffering from advanced liver failure.


Now to the hysteria. The following is just one example of many. One
equine magazine on the net published a story that horses could be
poisoned by "seeds and Spores" (sic) blowing into pasture that they
would breathe in. On the basis of the level of toxicity this is
absolute nonsense.

Unfortunately the press can and do make some pretty glaring errors in their
attempts to sell copy. This should not be considered as the norm just
stupidity and disregarded. I confess I haven't seen this particular bit of
reporting but no doubt you can tell us the name of the particular magazine
and its publication date?

(Even if you ignore the inaccurate botany.)
Yet the story has spread. It has appeared in at least two _Government_
press releases and as even been copied by the BBC. It is hardly
suprising therefore that many people have a false picture of the real
story about his plant.

Most folks I speak to don't have much of a picture at all about it and
think it is some kind of decorative daisy. They are genuinly surprised that
it is poisonous when told.


We are told that thousands of animals are poisoned by it every year.
However, what do the scientific data say? Well, there is apparently
only one set of official statistics available. These official
Government statistics were published in the official State Veterinary
Journal.
Here they a

The number of reported incidents of ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)
poisoning in cattle in England, Wales and Scotland were 26 (1985), 10
(1986), 16 (1987), 13 (1988), 7 (1989), 10 (1990).

This is typical statistics (as compared to the lies, damned lies and
statistics of quote) As previously said the number of deaths attributable
to direct poisoning is limited but as most cattle and sheep are
comparatively short lived (those raised for meat are slaughtered at an
early age) the cumulative effects of Ragwort poisoning are extremely likely
to be overlooked as the damage has not become established to any
significant degree to enable it to be detected post mortem.

Hardly the picture we have been led to believe and incidentally this
is supported by scientific papers from the continent which say
poisoning is rare.

I could go on with the false stories about it being a risk to people
etc. etc.

You are extremely confident in your stance - perhaps you would volunteer to
consume some Ragwort in an experiment to determine your assertation? I
should add that I certainly would not!

However, let's just remember that Ragwort has some positive qualities
too. For those who missed what I said in the long thread.
This is one of the things that one of our official government wildlife
bodies says.

"As a native plant ragwort has been studied for many years by
naturalists. Even way back in 1957 a report concluded that it is eaten
by, or is host to, over 81 species of insects including five "red data
book" and eight "nationally scarce" species. Living on those 81
species there have been a further 25 parasitic insect species
identified. In addition there have been 177 species of insects
observed using ragwort as a nectar source. It has also been observed
as host to the Common Broomrape and 14 species of fungi. "

The concept of Senecio Jacobea being a Native plant is interesting since it
has been reported that it is an imported plant which was brought into Kew
Gardens for study and then planted along Railway embankments by the
Victorian Railway Companies to provide their passengers with some
interesting colourful shrubbery to look at as they journeyed, at the same
time the roots binding the material it grew in to stabilise the banks.
Certainly if this is true then the idea that Cinnabar moths rely upon
Ragwort as a source of food is a fallacy since they must have lived on
something else before its introduction, likewise the other 80 odd species
mentioned above.

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of the stuff along
roadside verges, spreading into adjacent fields. In my opinion this is due
to the expansion of the highways network which almost invariably results in
wide swathes of land being compulsorily purchased to build new roads but
after building, leaving bare roadside land which is fenced off from the
surrounding agricultural areas and hence uncultivated or cared for,
conditions such as this are almost perfect for weeds to establish. The
various highways agencies carry out very limited mowing of this land often
restricting their work to a metre wide strips adjoining the paved areas and
the remaining areas become more overgrown and weed infested, an expanding,
thriving weed population becomes the inevitable result. In my locality we
have recently had a few days of wind, resulting in a steady airborne drift
of thistledown rolling right across my paddocks some hundreds of metres
from the source plants. Amongst this there must have been at least some
Ragwort seeds since there are plants growing along the verges where the
thistles grow and their distribution is by the same mechanical means. I
carry out a continuous programme of eradication but any relaxation is
rapidly rewarded by establishment of seedlings.

To see more of the myths debunked you can visit :-
http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

I visited the site and was somewhat unimpressed since the content was
mostly at significant variance with the results from a Google search for
Ragwort. Perhaps your site is written by a less objective author? It would
be helpful if the author was identified on the site.



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Regards,
John