Autumn Crocus

Colchicum autumnale

COMMON NAMES

• Autumn Crocus
• Colchicum
• Meadow Saffron
• Naked Ladies

This foot-high perennial plant has dark green, tulip like leaves that grow out of a corm, a fleshy, bulblike base. Crocus flowers are light purple or white.

During the fifth century doctors in the Byzantine Empire had a high regard for the plant's effectiveness as a remedy for "conditions of the joints" (probably rheumatism and arthritis), and Arab physicians prescribed autumn crocus for gout. In England during the 17th and 18th centuries, autumn crocus gained recognition in the London Pharmacopoeia, was then dropped, and later reinstated.

The ancient herbalists were correct in their assessment of this herb's value, for modern science has established that colchicine, an alkaloid occurring in autumn crocus, relieves the pain and inflammation of gout. Colchicine is still derived from the plant itself because chemists have not been able to synthesize it inexpensively.

PARTS USED

Corm, seed, flower.

USES

According to legends, the crocus indicates either the place where the gods Jove and Juno lay together or the place where the enchantress Medea spilled an elixir of life. Related species produce saffron, used since antiquity as a spice and dye. The crocus's corm, an underground bulblike organ, has been used historically as a potent poison, ground into a powder, and was often administered in wine. According to the Greek naturalist Theophrastus, slaves ate small pieces of the corm when they were angry with their masters to make themselves ill and unable to work. Scientists use colchicine, the plant's principal alkaloid, to develop strains of crops that produce larger fruits and vegetables and are more disease resistant.

The autumn crocus's main active principle is the alkaline substance colchicine, which is used today as one of the principal medications in gout therapy, as it may have been 4,000 years ago by the ancient Egyptians. Autumn crocus has been used to treat rheumatism, dropsy, and prostate enlargement. With colchicine, Egyptian and Israeli doctors have treated familial Mediterranean fever, which is fever accompanied by abdominal, joint, and chest pain. Because colchicine has been shown to stop cell division, scientists have researched its use as an anticancer agent, but it is currently regarded as too toxic for cancer treatment. Research is now being done on colchicine's effectiveness as a treatment for chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Autumn crocus is considered one of the best remedies for acute gout pain. Leukemia has been successfully treated with autumn crocus, and the plant has also been used with some success to treat Behcet's syndrome, a chronic disease marked by recurring ulcers and leukemia. Taken internally, autumn crocus has significant side effects even at low dosage. Externally, it is applied to relieve neuralgia and itchiness.

Other medical uses
Homeopathy

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Common in Europe and North Africa, autumn crocus grows wild in woods and damp meadows. It is also cultivated. The corm is gathered in early summer, the seeds in late summer.

CONSTITUENTS

Autumn crocus contains alkaloids (including colchicine) and flavonoids. Colchicine is anti-inflammatory and is used in conventional medicine for acute attacks of gout. As it affects cell division, it can cause fetal abnormality. Colchicine has been used in the laboratory to create new genetic strains.

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