Tetradymia spinosa
Tetradymia spinosa
Safety & Hazards
Toxicity of this species is low[ 1050 Title Fire Effects Information System Publication Author Website http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants ], though in general all species of Tetradymia should be considered toxic to grazing animals[ 277 Title Plants Database Publication Author Website http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet Publisher United States Department of Agriculture Year 0 ISBN Description An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants. ]. Symptoms include swollen, engorged liver with severe fatty changes and low grade nephritis (inflammation of nephrons) of the kidney along with haemorrhaging of the sub-skin and organ linings. Abortions may also occur[ 277 Title Plants Database Publication Author Website http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet Publisher United States Department of Agriculture Year 0 ISBN Description An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants. ].
Botanical Description
Tetradymia spinosa is a deciduous perennial plant with stems that become more or less woody. Growing from a woody rootstock and producing rhizomes up to 30cm long, the plant produces one or more erect, very spiny, much-branched stems 10 - 100cm tall, often forming a small colony[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. , 277 Title Plants Database Publication Author Website http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet Publisher United States Department of Agriculture Year 0 ISBN Description An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants. ]. The spines on the typical variety are 5 - 15mm long, but in the variety longispina they can be up to 50mm long[ 1050 Title Fire Effects Information System Publication Author Website http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.