Poison wheat
Chinese Name: Black wheat, Small tail wheat, Noise wheat
Poisonous wheat, also known as black wheat or small-tail wheat, is one of the first batches of invasive alien species listed in China. It is a harmful weed that poses serious threats to both agricultural production and human and animal health.
Scientific Name: Lolium temulentum L.
Family: Poaceae (Grass family)
Botanical Features: This plant is an annual or biennial herb, typically growing between 50 to 110 cm tall. The stems are sparsely clustered and erect. The leaf sheaths are loose and longer than the internodes, with membranous ligules about 1 mm long. The leaves are hairless or slightly rough. The inflorescence is spike-like, with spikelets containing 4–7 flowers, usually solitary and sessile, laterally flattened. The first lemma is degenerate, while the second lemma and palea are similar in length or sometimes absent. They have 5–9 veins, and the lateral lemmas have 5 veins with short awns just below the tip, which can be 1–2 cm long. The caryopsis (fruit) is oblong, with a wide groove on the ventral side and interlocking with the medial malleolus.
Harm to Crops: Poisonous wheat often grows mixed with wheat crops in fields. It contains toxic alkaloids in its seeds, making it dangerous for both humans and animals. Especially when the immature seeds or those mixed into harvested grain during rainy seasons are consumed, the toxicity is at its highest. As a result, this weed not only reduces wheat yield but also poses a serious threat to food safety and livestock health.
Geographical Distribution: Native to Europe, it was introduced to China in the last half-century and has since been found in regions such as Northeast China, Northwest China, as well as provinces like Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Yunnan.
This poisonous plant is documented in the China Plant Atlas database. Its main toxicity comes from the seeds, and the danger increases significantly when the seeds are unripe or harvested under wet, rainy conditions. If even 4% of the flour is contaminated with poisonous wheat, it can lead to acute poisoning in humans and livestock. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, eye swelling, extreme sleepiness, coma, tremors, paralysis, and in severe cases, death due to central nervous system failure.
It's crucial for farmers and agricultural workers to be aware of this invasive species and take necessary precautions to prevent contamination in food supplies and livestock feed.
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