|
| Botanical Name |
Gloriosa
superba |
|
| Common Name |
English:
Malabar glory Lilly |
| Family |
Liliaceae |
| Parts Used |
Tubers,
seeds. |
| Medicinal Property |
A
bitter, stimulant herb with antibacterial effects. Internally fresh tubers
cause abortion. It has been used to speed labour, soaked in milk to reduce
toxicity. Mainly externally for lice, scabies and leprosy. Excess causes
numbness, nausea, spasms and unconsciousness. |
| Chemistry |
It
is main source of “Colchicin”. |
| Description |
A
handsome herbaceous tendril climber with underground cylindrical white
tuberous rhizome, leaves sessile or nearly so, alternate, ovate lanceolate
with acuminate tips prolonged into spiral tendrils; flowers showy,
solitary or subcorymbose, at first greenish later becoming yellow and
finally crimson; fruits linear-oblong capsules, seeds many. |
| Distribution |
Throughout
India, up to 1,800 m in low jungles and also cultivated in Tamil Nadu
(India) |
| Economics |
|
| Warning |
All
parts extremely toxic if eaten fresh. Repeated handling of tubers causes
skin irritation. |
|
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