You must have seen the weed Calotropis growing in abandoned fields. The plant produces highly poisonous _____________ and that is why you never see any cattle or goats browsing on this plant.

Cardiac glycosides

The correct answer is Option (4) – Cardiac glycosides

For plants, herbivores are the predators. Nearly 25 per cent of all insects are known to be phytophagous (feeding on plant sap and other parts of plants). The problem is particularly severe for plants because, unlike animals, they cannot run away from their predators. Plants therefore have evolved an astonishing variety of morphological and chemical defences against herbivores. Thorns (Acacia, Cactus) are the most common morphological means of defence.

Many plants produce and store chemicals that make the herbivore sick when they are eaten, inhibit feeding or digestion, disrupt its reproduction or even kill it. Weed Calotropis growing in abandoned fields. The plant produces highly poisonous cardiac glycosides. 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.