Trees & Plants

Climbing lily

Vihalagondi, Vehathan

Gloriosa superba L.

Fairly common in both forests and open areas. or Has high ornamental value because a of its attractive flowers. All parts of the plant, especially the tubers, contain toxic alkaloids including colchicine which is fatal if ingested. Colchicine is useful in or the treatment of gout

Details

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uses: Has high ornamental value because a of its attractive flowers. All parts of the plant, especially the tubers, contain toxic alkaloids including colchicine which is fatal if ingested. Colchicine is useful in or the treatment of gout, intestinal worms, infertility, wounds, chronic ulcers, arthritis, cholera, colic, kidney problems and typhus. It has also been used as an antidote for snake bite, as a laxative, and to induce abortion.
family: Liliaceae
synonym: Clinostylis speciosa Hochst., Eugone superba (L.) Salisb.
description: Herbaceous climbers with tuberous roots. Leaves subsessile, alternate, × opposite or whorled, 5-13 1.5-4 cm, ovate-lanceolate, base cordate or amplexicaul, apex acuminate, ending in a of tendril. Flowers bisexual, axilliary, solitary or in few-flowered, terminal racemes; pedicel to 7 cm long. Perianth-lobes 6, free, × 5-7 0.8-1.2 cm, linear-oblong, reflexed or spreading, base narrow, margin undulate, apex acuminate, yellowish below and reddish above. Stamens 6; filaments 3-4 cm long; anthers oblong-linear, versatile. It × Ovary 1 0.5 cm, oblong, 3-locular; ovules numerous; style to 4 cm long, deflexed; × stigmas 3. Capsule 3-5 1-2 cm, ellipsoid- oblong; seeds many, 3 mm, globose, warty.
native range: Sub-Saharan Africa
distribution: Tropical and Southern Africa and tropical Asia
english names: Climbing lily · Glory lily · Malabar glory lily
flowering fruiting: July – December
occurrence maldives: Fairly common in both forests and open areas. or