Plant defences and toxins.
by Chris, 30 July, 2015, 2 comments
A number of our native plants contains toxic chemicals. One reason that plants produce such substances is that they help protect against herbivory, i.e. being eaten by various grazing animals (these may vary from sheep, cows, horses to a variety of phytophagous (plant eating) insects). Some white clovers (Trifolium repens), for example, contain a chemical that releases cyanide when the leaves are crushed or eaten (under the influence of an enzyme, linamarase) - this affords some protection against being eaten by slugs and snails. Read more...
