''Karwinskia humboldtiana'', commonly known as coyotillo, cacachila or Humboldt coyotillo, is a species of

flowering A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

shrub or small tree in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

. It is native to southern and western

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the United States as well as much of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The seeds and leaves of this plant contain the quinones eleutherin and 7-methoxyeleutherin and

chrysophanol Chrysophanol, also known as chrysophanic acid, is a fungal isolate and a natural anthraquinone. It is a C-3 methyl substituted chrysazin of the trihydroxyanthraquinone family. Chrysophanol (other names; 1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-anthraquinone and ch ...

and

β-amyrin The amyrins are three closely related natural chemical compounds of the triterpene class. They are designated α-amyrin (ursane skeleton), β-amyrin (oleanane skeleton) and δ-amyrin. Each is a pentacyclic triterpenol with the chemical formula C ...

in the fruits that are

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

to humans and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

. The toxins typically induce paralysis, which is often followed by death. However, it often takes days or even weeks after consumption for the symptoms to manifest.

References

humboldtiana ''Humboldtiana'' is a genus of American air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Humboldtianinae. Anatomy Snails in this genus create and use love darts as part of their mating behavior. The scann ...

Plants described in 1819 Flora of Mexico Flora of Texas Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini {{Rhamnaceae-stub