“Wild Cherry” wilted leaf toxin questions.
Is there a toxin difference between “wild cherry species” and the “commercial cherry tree saplings and seedlings?”
Hello, I live in the Willamette valley in Oregon. I have sheep and I want to learn more about “wild cherry,” wilted leaf poisoning in livestock. We lost two young lambs simultaneously from an unknown plant toxin. According to the veterinarian, it was an extremely rare occurrence for twin 16 day old lambs to die within an hour of each other without trauma, which leads to a poisoning. There are “wild cherry” trees alongside our fence line, but the species is genetically connected to dispersed commercial cherry trees. My guess is that the lambs may have found and ate sapling leaves.
For miles, our local “wild” cherry trees come from commercial cherry seed droppings due to a “long gone bing cherry farm” in our region. I am trying to understand the toxin difference between the known toxic leaves of “wild cherry tree species” and dispersed commercial “wild cherry trees.” The cherry trees lining our fence do not truly resemble Prunus serotina, virginiana, emarginata, or pensylvanica, but, the commercial cherry tree seedlings appear to revert into a smaller fruited “wild” cherry. Knowing that they have been naturally dispersed by seed over decades, can a bing cherry tree revert back to a true “wild cherry tree?” Could these versions of “wild cherry” convert and carry significant toxins?
In 25 yrs of sheep herding and hundreds of lambings, we have never experienced a sudden unexplainable death of healthy lambs in our flock.
I’d love to talk with a plant toxicologist, or veterinary toxicologist about this.
Thank you.
(Please excuse my taxonomy descriptions. My grad degree is in the arts, not sciences.)