why c.gigantea plant produce milk?
Answers
camels and goats will eat some leaves of the giant milkweed plant (the English name of Calotropis gigantea, a relative of C. procera, called in English Sodom apple or milkweed tree) but consumption is low because the latex that the plant produces is toxic and irritating, and because of the cardenolides which are cardiac stimulants. But if a giant milkweed leaves are mixed with other feed, these animals will eat them with no ill effect. It seems to be a case of: a) camels and goats are tough as nails, b) the dose makes the poison, and c) the cardenolides such as calotropin may be less bio-available when consumed as part of the leaves or/and processed by the gut flora of these herbivores. Perhaps these compounds are broken down enough to result in an effective decreasing of the actual dose. But I could not find any studies confirming these hypothesis of mine (except for the part about camels and goats being tough as nails, everyone knows that :-))