Thanks guys, that's all fascinating ! Steven : ) On 07/11/2013, at 5:26 PM, Peter Taggart <petersirises@gmail.com> wrote: > Colchicine is used to raise the ploidy of embryos. > I have read accounts of deaths from the eating of Clochicum bulbs and from > overdose of the medicine. Multiple organ failure and no remedy..... it is > absolutely horrific and does not require a lot of the plant or of the drug. > > Though the Iris family is generally thought to be poisonous; not only > saffron is eaten, the corms of some Crocus are eaten as if they were nuts. > IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CONFUSE COLCHICUM WITH CROCUS!!! > > > On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 3:39 AM, <arnold140@verizon.net> wrote: > >> Steve: >> >> I think you'll find the drug colchicine in the "Autumn Crocus" better know >> as Colchicum. >> >> A great drug for the treatment of gout. >> >> I can tell you that the wheat development program I assisted in a couple of >> years could not have happened if not for crocus bulbs...the bulb contains >> an extremely dangerous but useful compound called colchicine,which we used >> to double chromosome a number of haploid wheat embryos >> >> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/