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  • From: Heide Hermary <heidehermary@pacificcoast.net>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Black Locusts, more....
  • Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 12:20:16 -0700

As far as I know. Usually seeds contain higher amounts of toxins than other plant parts.

I've looked up my reference on toxicity to horses: "Equine Clinical Nutrition, Feeding and Care", by Lon D. Lewis (had to design a horse friendly farm landscape a few years back: couldn't believe how many common plants are highly poisonous to horses: elderberry, yew, red maple and dozens more....and those animals don't seem to be particularly bright: they eat themselves right to death)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust) contains the toxin "Lectin", and causes diarrhea, trembling and ataxia.
Not all plants are equally toxic to all creatures, but whatever I've read about black locust has been pretty general. The mere fact that is doesn't decay easily (i.e. doesn't get eaten by microbes) should be an indicator of toxic / preservative substances.

One thing that also needs to be taken into consideration: many plants that are continuously coppiced will develop toxins in response to the coppicing that they would not normally have in their tissues. Plants are living creatures that DO know how to defend themselves.

Heide

Claude Genest wrote:

Seed pods as well Heide ?

Also, Black Locust is one of the hottest burning firewoods and watch you don't plant them on your path too much as they are incredibly thorny !
On Friday, October 4, 2002, at 01:11 PM, Heide Hermary wrote:

Black locust is poisonous to animals. Why would you want to use it as forage?
Cheers, Heide

BK wrote:

Hi,
In reguards to black locusts, I'm not an avid silviculturalist, but I
believe they are one of the faster growing trees around. Had a small tree
(2" truck, 7 feet) about 2 years ago next to our house, it can now be seen
popping up above our roof. Also have tons of little seedlings popping up.
Its an n-fixer I believe. I've be playing with the idea of planting (on
barren land) a dense crop of them. Plan being: dense amount of small trees
to use as much sun as possible, thin about half of the trees out the next
year, use as forage. Thin them next year forage/stickwood. Such that you'd
continue to get a good amount out of the plot. Out course thats a bit of a
monocultural idea, so it'd be good to find understory crops for the more
mature system. Once they start flowering I bet you could get a good deal of
honey from the stand. I've set up a smal row of the little seedlings, I'm
hoping to try intertwining them as years progress to see how they'd work for
some form of biotecture.

Also, in reguards to industry and stacking, theres a term around called
"industrial ecologies". Setting up a group of industries where one
industries waste is anothers input.

Lastly, I'm not so sure I'd want to drink rainwater collected from rooves in
urban areas. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a bit of airborne
pollution around urban centers that would fall as rain?

Cheers,
BK _______________________________________________
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