page_title: Fish toxins
section_title: Example plants
hierarchical_section_title: Fish toxins / Example plants
caption_attribution_description: English: Medicinal Plant Cleistanthus collinus at fruiting stage
context_page_description: Fish toxins or fish stupefying plants have historically been used by many hunter gatherer cultures to stun fish, so they become easy to collect by hand. Some of these toxins paralyse fish, which can then be easily collected. The process of documenting many fish toxins and their use is ongoing, with interest in potential uses from medicine, agriculture, and industry.
context_section_description: In Africa, the closely related families of Caesalpiniaceae, Mimosaceae, and Papilionaceae, and a large number of Euphorbiaceae account for most fish poisons.
  California buckeye (Aesculus californica) is a widespread tree in the California oak woodlands and chaparral. The large orange-colored fruit is leached in warm water, with the resultant aesculin mixture then applied to pools in slow-moving streams to stun fish.
  Many of California's Native American tribes traditionally used the soaproot species, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, which contains saponin, as a fish poison.  They would pulverize the roots, mix in water to create a foam, and then add the suds to a stream. This would kill or incapacitate the fish, which could be gathered easily from the surface of the water. The Lassik, Luiseño, Yuki, Yokut,  Chilula,  Wailaki, Miwok, Kato, Mattole, Nomlaki, and Nishinam tribes used this technique.
  The extremely toxic (to humans), tropane alkaloid-containing shrub Latua pubiflora (family Solanaceae) was used formerly by the Huilliche people of the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile to catch fish in slow-flowing rivers - either alone or in combination with the juice of Drimys winteri (Winteraceae) - the latter being a fish poison in its own right. The poison did not kill the fish outright, but merely made them torpid enough to be caught easily.
  Olax in the family Olacaceae is a climber with compound, dark-green leaves and white bark. This is the most extensively used fish poison among the Gondi. Typically in summer, the leaves of this plant are dried and powdered. About 1 kg of powder is mixed into water about 5 ft (1.5 m) deep in ponds, usually in the summer.  Fish are stunned by the poison and rise to the surface, where they are easily collected by hand. If stunned fish were immediately reintroduced into clean water, they would become active. To get good results from the Olax (or korkat), the temperature should be high.
  Careya arborea  in the family Lecythidaceae is a large deciduous tree with simple large obovate leaves, large fruit and dark gray bark. The root bark is crushed and mixed in water. Upon its admixture, water blackens.
  Cleistanthus collinus in the family Euphorbiaceae (odcha in Gondi) is a medium-sized tree mainly found around villages. Young tender shoots of this species are used for fish stunning. The shoots are crushed in water on stone, and a paste is mixed into the water. Apart from its use as fish-stupefying agent, the stem of this plant is used for brushing teeth, leaves for storing grains, and wood as fuel.
  Lannea coromandelica in the family Anacardiaceae is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree with a spreading crown and stout branches. The leaves are compound, the bark is whitish or gray, and it has small, yellowish or purplish flowers. Flowers and fruits appear between February and June. Fruits (red, compressed, reniform, and single-seeded) of this plant are crushed and mixed in water. It is abundant in the Mendha forest.
  Costus speciosus in the family Costaceae is an erect, succulent herb, up to 2.7 m tall and with a tuberous rootstock, which is crushed and mixed in water for fish stunning. Apart from its use as fish stunning agent in Mendha, tubers of bese mati are consumed after boiling.
  Madhuca indica in the family Sapotaceae is a large tree, with seeds yielding edible oil. After the removal of the oil from seeds, the remaining cake is used for fish stunning. This cake is locally known as gara-dhep. The cake is boiled in water and mixed into water. A 0.5-kg cake is sufficient for a 100 ft² pond. It is an effective agent, but fish usually die from its application.
  Nauclea orientalis is a large tree in the family Rubiaceae. It is commonly known as the Leichhardt tree. The bark is used in creating fish poison.
  Pterocarpus marsupium in the family Fabaceae is a large tree with simple leaves. Its gray bark is used for fish poisoning, crushed and mixed in water.
  Verbascum thapsus contains rotenone in its leaves and seeds and has been used for fish poisoning.
caption: Odcha at fruiting
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