Oenanthe crocata (Apiaceae, Apioideae), new toxic plant for the adventive flora of Argentina and America

Abstract

The presence of Oenanthe crocata in Buenos Aires province adds a new species to the adventive flora of Argentina and America. This is a toxic plant native from Europe; its toxicity is due to the presence, particularly in roots, of oenanthotoxin, a polyacetylenic alcohol. In its countries of origin, cases of poisoning and death of cattle and humans have been reported by the ingestion of the radical tubercles. The identification of the species was corroborated by comparing the nrDNA ITS region of the argentine material to all the nucleotide sequences available at GenBank, and by performing a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of Oenanthe species. Moreover, Oenanthe divaricata is referred to the synonymy of O. crocata for the first time. This contribution describes and illustrates this new record, provides a distribution map and points the differential characters with other apioids that grow in Argentina.