''Colchicum autumnale'', commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, or naked ladies, is a toxic autumn-blooming

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

that resembles the true

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain undergro ...

es, but is a member of the plant family

Colchicaceae Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes 15 genera with a total of about 285 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Description The family is characterized by the presence of colchicine. Taxonomy The APG III ...

, unlike the true crocuses, which belong to the family

Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...

. The name "naked ladies" is because the flowers emerge from the ground long before the leaves appear. Despite the vernacular name of "meadow saffron", this plant is not the source of

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

, which is obtained from the saffron crocus, ''

Crocus sativus ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as saffron crocus or autumn crocus, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (biology), family Iridaceae. A cormous autumn-flowering cultivated perennial plant, perennial, unknown in the wild, it is ...

'' – and that plant, too, is sometimes called "autumn crocus". The species is cultivated as an ornamental in temperate areas, in spite of its toxicity. The cultivar 'Nancy Lindsay' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Description

This

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

has leaves up to long. The flowers are solitary, across, with six

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s and six

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s with orange anthers and three white styles. At the time of fertilisation, the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is below ground.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora.'' Cork University Press.

Distribution

''C. autumnale'' is the only species of its family native to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with notable populations under the stewardship of the

County Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

. It also occurs across mainland Europe from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and is reportedly naturalised in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Colchicum autumnale''
/ref>

Pharmaceutical uses

The bulb-like

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

s of ''C. autumnale'' contain

colchicine Colchicine is a medication used to treat gout and Behçet's disease. In gout, it is less preferred to NSAIDs or steroids. Other uses for colchicine include the management of pericarditis and familial Mediterranean fever. Colchicine is taken ...

, a useful drug with a narrow

therapeutic index The therapeutic index (TI; also referred to as therapeutic ratio) is a quantitative measurement of the relative safety of a drug. It is a comparison of the amount of a therapeutic agent that causes the therapeutic effect to the amount that causes ...

. Colchicine is approved in many countries for the treatment of

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

and

familial Mediterranean fever Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary inflammatory disorder. FMF is an autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in Mediterranean fever gene, which encodes a 781–amino acid protein called pyrin. While all ethnic groups are su ...

, but has a low

. Colchicine is also used in plant breeding to produce

polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

strains.

Toxicity

''Colchicum'' plants are deadly poisonous due to their colchicine content and have been mistaken by foragers for

ramsons ''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amary ...

, which they vaguely resemble. The symptoms of colchicine poisoning are similar to those of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

, and no

antidote An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon) antidoton'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are s ...

is known. This plant (and colchicine itself) poses a particular threat to

felines The Felinae are a subfamily of the family Felidae. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar. Other authors have proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily: as c ...

. The leaves and fruit of meadow saffron contain the highest level of toxins, but all parts of the plant are regarded as poisonous.

Gallery

File:Colchicum autumnale 01.JPG, Flowers surrounded by other plants File:Colchicum autumnale Luc Viatour.jpg, Two flowers File:Colchicum autumnale 050505.jpg, Seed capsules File:Semen Colchici by Danny S. - 001.JPG, Seeds File:Colchicum autumnale 2.JPG, After the rain File:Colchicum autumnale at the U.S. Botanic Gardens - Sarah Stierch.jpg, Detail of flower at the United States Botanic Gardens File:Colchicum autumnale ENBLA02.jpeg,

Limana Limana ( vec, Łimana) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about southwest of Belluno. As of 31 December 2010, it had a population of 5 027 and an area of ...

, (Valmorel), Italy File:Colchiques dans les prés.jpg, In a meadow

Lauterbourg Lauterbourg ( or ; ) (historically in English: Lauterburgh) is a Communes of France, commune and Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. Situated on the Germany, German border a ...

, (Alsace), France File:Colchicum autumnale00.jpg, ''Colchicum autumnale'' by

Auguste Faguet Auguste Faguet (Tours, 8/11/1826 – Paris, 21/08/1900) was a noted 19th-century French botanical illustrator, well known for his contributions to major botanical works. Auguste Faguet produced fine botanical wood engravings to illustrate the w ...

File:Meadow saffron plate no 6 bv73c1191 bk128b698 crop.jpeg, From ''The Book of Health'', 1898, by Henry Munson Lyman

Description

Distribution

Pharmaceutical uses

Toxicity

Gallery

References

Further reading