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http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Colchicum+autumnale
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Colchicum+autumnale
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/safmea04.html

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Colchicum autumnale - L.

Common
Name

Autumn Crocus,
Meadow Saffron,

Family

Colchicaceae

Synonyms

Known
Hazards

All parts of the

plant, but especially
the bulb[200], are
poisonous[4, 7, 10,
19, 65]. They cause
vomiting, violent
purging, serious
inflammation of the
stomach and bowels,
and death[232].
Handling the corms
can cause skin
allergies in some
people[238].

Habitats

Meadows and damp

woodland clearings[1,
10, 13] on calcareous
and neutral soils[17].
Extremely rare away
from the Bristol
Channel in Britain[7].

Range

Central and
southeastern Europe,
including Britain, from
Denmark to Spain,
east to Macedonia.

Edibility
Rating

Medicinal
Rating

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
:Koeh-044.jpg

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---Synonym---Naked Ladies.
---Parts Used---Root, seeds.
---Habitat---Grows wild in meadows, especially on limestone.

---Description---It has lanceolate leaves, dark green, glabrous,

often a foot long. Flowers light purple or white, like crocus but for
their six stamens; the ovaries remain underground until the spring
after flowering, when they are borne up by the elongating
peduncles and ripen. It flowers in September and October. The
leaves and fruit are poisonous to cattle.
The root is called a corm, from which in autumn the light-purplish mottled flowers
arise.
---Cultivation---Requires light, sandy loam, enriched with decayed manure or
leafmould. Plant the bulbs 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart in July or August, in
moist beds or rockeries, shrubbery, borders or lawns near shade of trees. The
foliage dies down in June and July, and does not reappear until after the plant has

flowered. It may also be propagated by seeds sown 1/8 inch deep in a bed of fine
soil outdoors in August or September, or in pans or boxes of similar soil in cold
frame at the same time, transplanting seedlings 3 inches apart when two years old;
or by division of bulbs in August. Seedling bulbs do not flower till four or five
years old.
[Top]
---Medicinal Action and Uses---The Colchicum is valued for its medicinal
properties. The parts used are the root and seeds, these being anti-rheumatic,
cathartic, and emetic. Its reputation rests largely upon its value in acute gouty and
rheumatic complaints. It is mostly used in connexion with some alkaline diuretic;
also in pill form. Overdoses cause violent purging, etc.
The active principle is said to be an alkaline substance of a very poisonous nature
called Colchinine. It is acrid, sedative, and acts upon all the secreting organs,
particularly the bowels and kidneys. It is apt to cause undue depression, and in
large doses acts as an irritant poison. Dr. Lindley relates the case of a woman who
was poisoned by the sprouts of Colchicum, which had been thrown away in Covent
Garden Market and which she mistook for onions.
The Hermodactyls of the Arabians, formerly celebrated for soothing pains in the
joints, are said to be this plant.
The corm or root is usually sold in transverse slices, notched on one side and
somewhat reniform in outline, white and starchy internally, about 1/8 inch thick,
and varying from 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Taste sweetish, then bitter and acrid.
Odour radish-like in fresh root, but lost in drying.
---Preparations---Powdered root, 2 to 5 grains. Extract, B.P., 1/4 to 1 grain. Fluid
extract (root), 1 to 10 drops. Fluid extract (seed), U.S.P., 1 to 10 drops. Tincture,
B.P., 5 to 15 drops. Wine, B.P., 10 to 30 drops. Acetic solid extract, 1/4 to 1 grain.