Cyanide poisoning of cattle grazing "reed sweet-grass"

Abstract Extract Reed sweet-grass, Poa aquatica (Glyceria maxima, Glyceria acquatica), a member of the Gramineae family, is an introduced plant found in wet places in various localities in both the North and South Islands, but mainly in Otago and Southland (Allan, 1940 ). Garner ( 1961 , p. 318) quotes Quisumbine (1947) as listing 25 species belonging to the family Gramineae, including Poa aquatica, which contain hydrocyanic acid. Connor (1951) , however, does not list Poa aquatica as one of the poisonous plants of New Zealand, and no previous references to poisoning by this plant have been found.