Editing Colchicum (section)

==Medicinal uses and poisonous properties==
Plants in this genus contain toxic amounts of the [[alkaloid]] [[colchicine]] which is used pharmaceutically to treat [[gout]] and [[Familial Mediterranean fever]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Amrollahi-Sharifabadi |first1=Mohammad |last2=Seghatoleslami |first2=Ahmad |last3=Amrollahi-Sharifabadi |first3=Maryam |last4=Bayani |first4=Farajali |last5=Mirjalili |first5=Mahdi |title=Fatal Colchicine Poisoning by Accidental Ingestion of Colchicum persicum: A Case Report |journal=American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology |date=December 2013 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=295–298 |doi=10.1097/PAF.0000000000000059 |pmid=24196723 |s2cid=12811749 }}</ref> The use of the [[root]]s and seeds in traditional medicine is thought to have arisen due to the presence of this drug.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stuart |first=M. |date=1979 |title=The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism |publisher=Orbis Publishing London |isbn=0-85613-067-2}}</ref>

Its [[leaf|leaves]], [[corm]] and [[seed]]s are [[poison]]ous. Murderer [[Catherine Wilson]] is thought to have used it to poison a number of victims in the 19th century. The species known to contain the most lethal amount of colchicine is ''[[Colchicum autumnale|C. autumnale]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Huxley |first=A. |date=1992 |title=The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. |publisher=MacMillan Press |isbn=0-333-47494-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Frohne and Pfänder |date=1984 |title=Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. |publisher=Wolfe |isbn=0723408394}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stary |first=F. |date=1983 |title=Poisonous Plants. |publisher=Hamlyn |isbn=0-600-35666-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Altmann. |first=H. |date=1980 |title=Poisonous Plants and Animals. |publisher=Chatto and Windus |isbn=0-7011-2526-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/poisonousplantsa0000altm}}</ref>