Colchicum

Colchicum is a kind of long-lived herbaceous plants of the family of the Liliaceae , or Colchicaceae according to phylogenetic classification. It is one of the kinds of Colchique S . It comprises approximately 70 species. The name Colchicum is derived from Colchide, where the magician Médée lived. Greatest number of species meets in the Balkans and in minor Asia.

Description

They are plants with corme. As sung in the old story Colchiques in the meadows, it is the end of the summer , the flowers of the majority of the species appear with the off-season. The plant disappears then until next spring, when the sheets as well as the fruits emergent ( Filium handle patrem ).

Some species however like Colchicum hungaricum Janka originating in Balkans, and Colchicum luteum Baker of Central Asia - the only species with yellow flowers - flower at the end of the winter among sheets developed already well. The flowers of colchic resemble those of the Crocus, but they have 6 cheesecloths (against 3 for the crocus).

From the fact that the sheets and the flowers of the majority of the species appear at different seasons, the nomenclature of the kind Colchicum is extremely confused.

Some species

European species

  • Colchicum alpinum cd., miniature species of the Western Alps, Corsica and Italy with tube emerald
  • Colchicum autumnale L. - the Colchique of autumn; spread in all average Europe. The specimens with larger flowers of Eastern Europe are called Colchicum pannonicum Griseb. & Schenk.
  • Colchicum bivonae Guss., Mediterranean species with large flowers
  • Colchicum corsicum Baker, endemic species of Corsica close to Colchicum alpinum
  • Colchicum cupanii Guss., miniature Mediterranean species whose flowers appear among the young sheets
  • Colchicum hungaricum Janka, miniature species of Balkans with spring flowering
  • Colchicum lusitanum Brot. (Syn. Colchicum tenorii ), species of Italy and the Iberian peninsula, near to Colchicum autumnale
  • Colchicum neapolitanum , (Ten.) Ten. Mediterranean species near to Colchicum autumnale which one meets in particular in Provence
  • Colchicum parnassicum Sart., Orph. & Heldr. ex Boiss., endemic species of the mountains of Greece
  • Colchicum variegatum L., miniature species of Greece and Turkey, whose tepals which are spread out out of star present a fine reason in checkerwork, a little like that of the Fritillaire guinea fowl ( Fritillaria meleagris ).

Species of minor Asia

  • Colchicum baytopiorum C.Brickell, miniature species whose flowers appear among the young sheets
  • Colchicum bornmuelleri Freyn, species close to Colchicum speciosum , with large flowers out of tube and white throat cut emerald
  • Colchicum cilicicum Dammer, very floriferous slightly scented species
  • Colchicum speciosum Steven, species with large flowers resisting the bad weather well. “Album” is a selection with white flowers in the shape of tulip and with tube emerald.

Horticultural hybrids and selections

  • Colchicum ×agrippinum hort. ex Baker, a very old hybrid of probable formula Colchicum autumnale × Colchicum variegatum

  • Colchicum ×byzantinum Ker Gawl. (Syn. Colchicum autumnale “Major”), a very floriferous, known sterile taxon since the XVIIe century, which one often puts to flower “dry” on a shelf of window. It is currently considered that it is a probable hybrid of formula Colchicum autumnale × Colchicum cilicicum . “Album” is a selection with white flowers with a point of pink.

In addition to these two hybrid species, there exist some selections of Colchicum autumnale with white and vinous flowers, and double flowers. The hybrids with large flowers, like “Lilac Wonder”, “Giant” and “Waterlily” (with double flower resembling a miniature nymphea) result from crossing between mainly Colchicum bivonae Guss. and Colchicum speciosum Steven.

Espèces which is not any more of Colchicum

Some species placed initially in the kind Colchicum , are it currently in the kinds Bulbocodium (2 species) and Merendera (10 species). However, last phylogenies published (Vinnersten & Reeves) indicate that these species are to be reinstated in the kind Colchicum , thus probably that the Androcymbium .

These miniature species are cherished by the amateurs of the rare bulbs.

Colchicine

See also: Colchicine

The whole plant is very toxic, because it produces a Alcaloïde, the Colchicine which has properties Mutagène S and antimitotic (which blocks the Mitose S). The colchicine is used:

  • like reagent, for example to determine the Chromosomic chart S,
  • like drug in the acute crises of drop, like (in Homeopathy) in the pains Erratic S
  • like mutagen agent modifying plants genetically, without insertion of foreign genes, in order to produce, randomly new varieties among the produced viable subjects. It is a means of doubling or of quadrupling the number of chromosomes. This type of molecule could possibly play in nature a part by producing new varieties, even of new species, but the changes induced by this molecule are seldom viable.
The Démécolcine is a molecule close to the colchicine, but is hardly used nowadays. The thiocolchicoside (Coltramyl®), a semi-synthetic derivative, is used like Myorelaxant.

Others

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