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Pimelea trichostachya and P. simplex were confirmed as causal agents of St George/Marree disease in the 1970s (Clark 1971; Roberts and Healy 1971).  These plants are native herbs that preferentially grow in the winter-spring period (Cunningham et al. 1981), are widespread over inland Australia (AVH 2008) and are regarded as annuals (Everist 1981; Dowling and McKenzie 1993).  Poisoning seemed restricted to cattle and sheep and seemed associated with sparse pastures.  Outbreaks of the disease were sporadic although some districts seemed to have some deaths ascribed to Pimelea almost every year.  No vaccine or medication seemed effective (Dadswell et al. 1994). ...