Abstract:
Urginea physodes (Jacq.) Bak., a species closely related to or possibly synonymous with U. pusilla, is described and its distribution given. Four bufadienolides were isolated from U. physodes and the approximated LD₅₀ and cumulative effect of some of them determined in guinea pigs. The most toxic one proved to be mildly cumulative. Typical signs of acute cardiac glycoside poisoning, involving the locomotory, gastro-intestinal, respiratory and cardiac systems, were seen in the field cases and/or were experimentally induced by the plant. Similar signs could also be induced by injecting the isolated bufadienolide, physodine A, to a sheep.
