Materia Medica

This week is National Wildflower Week.

Gloriosa superba is a plant grown as an ornamental in warm climates the world over, but in India and parts of Africa it occurs as a wildflower. It is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Common names include flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, glory lily, gloriosa lily, tiger claw, agnishikha and fire lily.

In Zimbabwe, it is their national flower, and it is the state flower of Tamil Nadu state in India.

The plant is toxic, but also medicinal, and has been used to treat many ailments. Be alert, however. Every part of the plant is poisonous, especially the tuberous rhizomes. It is toxic enough to cause human and animal fatalities!

It is best to enjoy the flowers with your eyes only.

This image is part of FAL’s Digital Images and Slides Collection (DISC), a collection of images digitized from secondary sources for use in teaching and learning. FAL does not own the original artworks represented in this collection, but you can find more information at HOLLIS Images.

Illustrations of trees taken from ‘Larousse’ (1932).

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Myosotis (Forget-me-nots) taken from ‘Les Fleurs de Jardins’ by J. Eudes (1856-1938),

Published before 1929.

A branch of Japanese fir (Abies firma).

Watercolour by S. Kawano.

https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0043610.html

Forsythia and Petunia taken from ‘La Belgique Horticole.’

Published 1851.

Harvard University Botany Libraries.

Viola Tricolor (1868) by Abraham Jacobus Wendel  (1826-1915)

Chromolithograph: G. Severeyns.

Helianthus - Withered Sunflowers (1926) by Alois Hänisch (Austria, 1836-1937).

Mountain visible from tropical forest clearing. Albert Berg, from Physiognomy of tropical vegetation in South America, London: 1854.

Reddish Balsam Apple (1750–72) by Georg Wolfgang Knorr (German, 1705–1761). 

Hand-coloured etching and engraving.

Arctic bluebird

From: United States. War Department. Reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Washington : Printed by Beverley Tucker, 1855-1860

Sunflowers by Basilius Besler (1561–1629) taken from ‘Hortus Eystettensis’ (1613). Engraving by Heinrich Ulrich (1567–1621).