NEETZoologyOrganisms and Populations
Why do you never see cattle or goats browsing on weed Calotropis?
Options
- AThe plant produces highly poisonous tannins.
- BThe plant produces quinine which is bitter in taste
- CThe plant produces poisonous cardiac glycosides.
- DThe plant bears prickles.
Correct answer
C. The plant produces poisonous cardiac glycosides.
Step-by-step solution
You must have seen the weed Calotropis growing in abandoned fields. The plant produces highly poisonous cardiac glycosides and that is why you never see any cattle or goats browsing on this plant. A wide variety of chemical substances that we extract from plants on a commercial scale (nicotine, caffeine, quinine, strychnine, opium, etc.,) are produced by them actually as defences against grazers and browsers