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Mary Sue Ittner (Mon, 23 Dec 2002 20:57:39 PST)

Wow, we will all have something to do in our leisure time. Thank you
everybody for this great beginning to the TOW. I plan to look at them all
as I have time. Diane, I couldn't figure out how to access the Australian
arisaema site, but maybe you just wanted to give us a way to look up old sites.

Re: Especially this page which highlights over collection of bulb species such
as Scilla and Eucomis
http://www.rhino.org.za/flora_medicinal.htm

I looked up Scilla natalensis in A field guide to wildflowers Kwazulu-Natal
and the Eastern region by Elsa Pooley (a book I don't think was mentioned)
and this book says it is a traditional treatment for internal tumours,
boils, fractures and lung disease in cattle. That was an amazing number of
bulbs being harvested so surely there must be other uses. I remember many
years ago when Bill Dijk sent a lot of us fresh seed of this species at
about this time of the year. I was just talking to a friend this week about
how in spite of getting good germination our long term success wasn't very
good. I ended up with only one plant the second year, but it is doing well
and has since produced a number of offsets. Cathy Craig was much more
successful with her seed. How many do you still have Cathy? It didn't seem
to be an easy plant to propagate so what a huge loss if they are all removed.

Eucomis autumnalis in that same book is widely used to treat urinary and
pulmonary aliments, fever and diseases of stock.