Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Authorities do not agree on why dogs eat vegetation from time to time.  Some experts think that it is just a frolicsome thing to snap at leaves as they pass.  Others feel that a dog somehow knows that leaves of a certain plant species can satisfy a need.  A dog that eat grass or other green leaves often throws up the contents of its stomach shortly after, suggesting that the vegetable matter facilitates the vomiting up of material that may be upsetting the animal's stomach.

Two of my dogs once developed a habit of eating one or two leaves of a particular Lantana urticoides (Texas lantana) plant.  I was very concerned because Lantana leaves are extremely toxic, especially if eaten in sizeable numbers.  But each time I caught a dog nibbling this plant (and never another species) and restrained him, I noticed that he often vomited but behaved perfectly normally afterwards.

Experiences like these make me wonder if animals recognize plants that can remedy physical problems.  Viguiera dentata (Sunflower goldeneye) could be one of these plants.  Infusions of V. dentata are used as a folk medicine in Mexico to treat baby rash.  Recent chemical analyses have shown the presence in V. dentata of several terpenoid compounds which have antibacterial activity.  But nothing particularly toxic was found.

It is therefore unlikely that V. dentata is especially toxic.  Whether eating it is herbally helplful has to be anybody's guess at the present time.