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Gloriosa superba

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Gloriosa superba
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Colchicaceae
Genus: Gloriosa
Species:
G. superba
Binomial name
Gloriosa superba
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Eugone superba (L.) Salisb.
    • Gloriosa angulata Schumach.
    • Gloriosa cirrhifolia Stokes
    • Gloriosa doniana Schult. & Schult.f.
    • Gloriosa nepalensis G.Don
    • Gloriosa rockefelleriana Stehlé & M.Stehlé
    • Gloriosa rothschildiana O'Brien
    • Gloriosa verschuurii Hoog
    • Methonica doniana (Schult. & Schult.f.) Kunth
    • Methonica gloriosa Salisb.
    • Methonica superba (L.) Crantz

Gloriosa superba is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Common names include flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, glory lily,[3] gloriosa lily, tiger claw,[4] and fire lily.[5]

Description

Pollen grains

This herbaceous perennial grows from a fleshy rhizome.[6] It is scandent, climbing using modified leaf-tip tendrils, the stem reaching 4 m (13 ft) long.[7] The leaves are mainly alternately arranged, but they may be opposite, as well. They are somewhat lance-shaped and tipped with tendrils, and they are up 13 to 20 cm (5.1 to 7.9 in) long.[6][8] The showy flower has six tepals each up to 5 to 7.6 cm (2.0 to 3.0 in) long.[6][9] They are generally bright red[6] to orange[8] at maturity, sometimes with yellowish bases. The margins may be quite wavy. The six stamens also are long, up to 4 cm (1.6 in), and each bears a large anther at the tip that drops large amounts of yellow pollen.

The style may be more than 6 cm (2.4 in) long. One flower may weigh over 2.5 g (0.09 oz).[10] The fruit is a fleshy capsule up to 6 to 12 cm (2.4 to 4.7 in) long[7][11] containing red seeds.[6][8] Cultivars of this popular garden plant may vary from these wild-type characteristics; the cultivar 'Lutea' has all-yellow tepals, 'Citrina' is yellow with red markings, and 'Nana' is a dwarf.[4] Whitish forms are also known.[11]

Distribution and ecology

Gloriosa superba is native to much of Africa, except North Africa. It is native to much of tropical Asia including the Indian subcontinent and mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. It is also native to south-central China.[2]

The species has been introduced to eastern Australia (New South Wales and Queensland), Alabama in the United States, Suriname, parts of the Caribbean, and various Pacific Islands.[2][5]

The plant likely is pollinated by butterflies and sunbirds.[7] It grows in many types of habitat, including tropical jungles,[4] forests, thickets,[6] woodlands, grasslands, and sand dunes.[7] It can grow in nutrient-poor soils.[citation needed] It can be found at as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in elevation.[7]

Toxicity

Every part of the plant is poisonous

This plant is poisonous, and toxic enough to cause human and animal fatalities if ingested. It has been used to commit murder, to achieve suicide,[11] and to kill animals.[7] Every part of the plant is poisonous, especially the tuberous rhizomes. As with other members of the Colchicaceae, this plant contains high levels of colchicine, a toxic alkaloid. It also contains the alkaloid gloriocine. Within a few hours of the ingestion of a toxic amount of plant material, a victim may experience nausea, vomiting, numbness, tingling around the mouth, burning in the throat, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea, which leads to dehydration.[citation needed] As the toxic syndrome progresses, rhabdomyolysis, ileus,[11] respiratory depression, hypotension, coagulopathy, haematuria, altered mental status, seizures, coma, and ascending polyneuropathy may occur.[citation needed] Longer-term effects include peeling of the skin and prolonged vaginal bleeding in women.[11] Colchicine is known to cause alopecia. One case report described a patient who accidentally ate the tubers and then experienced hair loss over her entire body, including complete baldness.[12] Poisonings can occur when the tubers are mistaken for sweet potatoes[11] or yams and eaten.[12] The plant can be dangerous for cats, dogs, horses,[13] and livestock,[14] as well.

Human uses

The alkaloid-rich plant has long been used as a traditional medicine in many cultures. It has been used in the treatment of gout, infertility, open wounds, snakebite, ulcers, arthritis, cholera, colic, kidney problems, typhus,[7] itching, leprosy,[9] bruises, sprains, hemorrhoids, cancer, impotence, nocturnal emission,[citation needed] smallpox, sexually transmitted diseases, and many types of internal parasites.[14] It is an anthelmintic.[citation needed] It has been used as a laxative and an alexiteric.[9] The sap is used to treat acne and head lice.[citation needed] In a pregnant woman, it may cause abortion.[9][14][7] In parts of India, extracts of the rhizome are applied topically during childbirth to reduce labor pain.[citation needed]

Other uses for this plant include arrow poison in Nigeria[14] and snake repellent in India.[11] Some cultures consider it to be magical.[citation needed] The flowers are part of religious rituals.[11]

This species is the national flower of Zimbabwe.[7][15][16][17][18] In 1947, Queen Elizabeth II received a diamond brooch in the shape of this flower for her twenty-first birthday while traveling in Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe.[19]

In Tamil, this flower is commonly known as Karthigaipoo (கார்த்திகைப்பூ) because it grows during the Tamil month of Karthigai (November–December). It is the state flower of Tamil Nadu state in India.[20] It was also designated as the national flower of the de facto state of Tamil Eelam by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), because it contains all the colours contained in the Tamil Eelam national flag and because it grows during November, coinciding with Maaveerar Naal.[21]

In cultivation

Seed pod of Gloriosa superba

The plant can be propagated sexually by seed or vegetatively by dividing the rhizome. Problems during cultivation include inadequate pollination, fungal diseases such as leaf blight and tuber rot, and crop pests such as the moths Polytela gloriosa and Chrysodeixis chalcites.[14] It is also a crop that is slow to propagate; each split tuber produces only one extra plant in a year's time. In vitro experiments with plant tissue culture have been performed,[citation needed] and some increased the yield.[22]

Both the fruit and the rhizome are harvested. The fruits are dried and split, and the seeds are removed and dried further. The seeds and rhizomes are sold whole, as powder, or as oil extracts.[14]

Conservation and invasion

In general, this plant is common in the wild. It is in great demand for medicinal use, so it is cultivated on farms in India, but most plant material sold into the pharmaceutical trade comes from wild populations.[7] This is one reason for its decline in parts of its native range. In Sri Lanka it has become rare, and in Orissa it is thought to be nearing extinction.[7] On the other hand, it has been introduced outside its native range and has become a weed which may be invasive. In Australia, for example, it now can be found growing in coastal areas of Queensland and New South Wales.[8] It also is cited as an invasive species in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, and Singapore.[5]

References

  1. ^ Contu, S. (2013). "Gloriosa superba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T44393073A44403733. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T44393073A44403733.en. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Gloriosa superba L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Gloriosa superba". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Scheper, J. Gloriosa superba. Floridata.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Gloriosa superba". Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). Archived from the original on 29 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Gloriosa superba. Flora of China.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gloriosa superba. Archived 2013-06-06 at the Wayback Machine World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 2011. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  8. ^ a b c d Thorp, J. R. and M. Wilson. (1998 onwards). Gloriosa superba. Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine Weeds Australia. The National Weeds Strategy.
  9. ^ a b c d Oudhia, P. (2002). Gloriosa Superba. New Crop Resource Online Program. Center for New Crops & Plant Products. Purdue University.
  10. ^ Selvarasu, A. and R. Kandhasamy. (2012). Reproductive biology of Gloriosa superba. Open Access Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 3(2) 5-11.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Fernando, R. and D. Widyaratna. (1989). Gloriosa superba. INCHEM. International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS).
  12. ^ a b Gooneratne, B. W. M. (1966). "Massive generalized alopecia after poisoning by Gloriosa superba". British Medical Journal. 1966 (5494): 1023–1024. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5494.1023. PMC 1844473. PMID 5909848.
  13. ^ Gloriosa Lily. ASPCA.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Dounias, E. Gloriosa superba L. Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Protabase Record Display. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA).
  15. ^ Mpofu, T. Zimbabwe's national flower faces extinction. The National. Abu Dhabi Media. February 26, 2010.
  16. ^ Gloriosa superba. Flora of Zimbabwe.
  17. ^ Winter, N. Glory lily vines are exotic and wonderful. Office of Agricultural Communications. Mississippi State University. July 13, 2006.
  18. ^ Ade, Ravindra; Rai, Mahendra K. (2009). "Review: Current advances in Gloriosa superba L." (PDF). Biodiversitas. 10 (4): 210–214. doi:10.13057/biodiv/d100409.
  19. ^ Flame Lily Brooch, 1947. Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Queen and Commonwealth, The Royal Tour. The Royal Collection Trust.
  20. ^ "About Tamil Nadu | Tamil Nadu Government Portal".
  21. ^ "Karthigaipoo declared as National flower of Eelam Tamils".
  22. ^ Yadav, Kuldeep; Aggarwal, Ashok; Singh, Narender (2012). "Actions for ex situ conservation of Gloriosa superba L. – an endangered ornamental cum medicinal plant". Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology. 15 (4): 297–303. doi:10.1007/s12892-012-0045-7.
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