Colchicum Corm

Liquid Extract of Colchicum (Corm), B.P. Contains 0 3 per cent of alkaloids. 

Bulbs and corns are modified underground stems. They are collected when they are fully grown. Bulbs of Allium cepa and Allium sativa are used. Corm of Colchicum autumnale is the source of the drug. Dried seeds provide source of drugs such as Nux vomica and Ignatia. Lycopodium is produced from spores of the plant Lycopodium clavatum, Opium from the latex of the capsules of the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum and Carbo vegetabilis from the charcoal. Whole plants are also used for the preparation of drugs like Aconitum napellus, Calendula officinalis, Chamomilla, Phytolacca decandra (Cook, 1988). 

An alkaloid obtained from the corm and seeds of the meadow saffron, Colchicum autumnale (Liliaceae) and other Colchicum species. 

The corm is an underground stem excessively thickened and solid and characterized by the production of buds from the center of the upper surface and rootlets from the lower surface. Examples Colchicum, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, etc. 

Fig. 6. Longitudinal section of active corm of Colchicum aiUumnale showing vascular bundles cut longitudinally and transversely. Deposits of colchicine are shown in epidermis and bundle sheath, x 130. From Errera, Maistriau and Clautriau (1).

Mroz L. Variation of colchicines and metal content in Colchicum autumnale L. (Liliaceae) corms in relation to edaphic environment. Pol J Ecol 2008 56(3) 431 1. 

Colchicum vermtm KCT-Gawl Eastern Europe Corms, leaves. Flowers... 

Colchicum autumnale flore plena Hort - Corms... 

Colchicum bornmuelleri Freyn Asia Minor Corms... 

Colchicum cornigerum Tackh et Drar UAR Corms, seeds... 

Colchicum crocifolium Schott et Kotschy Southeast Persia Corms... 

Colchicum lusitanicum Brot North Africa and Iberia Corms, flowers... 

Colchicum ritchii R. Br. Israel Corms, whole leafy plant... 

Both the corm and the seed of colchicum (C. autumnale Linn.) contain the alkaloid colchicine (0 4 per cent and 0 3 to 0 6 per cent respectively) and are assayed similarly, so they can be considered together. Only the corm is official in the B.P. 

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