Common Ragwort

Common ragwort is a native species of the UK. Common Ragwort flowers between June and August. The flowers are flat-topped clusters of yellow daisy like flower heads, with the plants growing up to 100cm tall. Both the Weeds Act 1959 and the Ragwort Control Act 2003, supported by DEFRA’s code of practice (2004), seek to control the spread of ragwort and prevent its spread to neighbouring land. Ragwort contains toxic alkaloids which act as a cumulative poison eventually destroying the animals liver. The living plant is unpalatable and is usually avoided by livestock. However, it becomes more palatable when dry.

Ragwort is native to the Eurasian continent. In Europe it is widely spread, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. In Britain and Ireland, where it is native it is listed as a noxious weed. Ragwort is abundant in waste land, waysides and grazing pastures.

Ragwort contains a toxins called pyrrolizidine alkaloids. In sufficient quantities, this can cause liver poisoning in horses and other livestock. It is a cumulative poison that eventually leads to the rapid onset of symptoms before death. However, the symptoms are variable and resemble those of a number of other diseases.  

If horses ingest ragwort, they could suffer low-level digestion of the weed for months before they start to show signs of distress. According to invertebrate charity Buglife, the lethal volume of Ragwort is around 7% of body weight for horses; cattle are also prone to poisoning but sheep are thought to be less susceptible.

You as a landowner have legal obligations to remove and treat your own land and you must not allow ragwort to spread onto adjacent land since that landowner could take legal action against you for allowing the spread of the weed.