Name: Colchicum splendid – miracle flower (veterinary practice)
Colchicum magnificent – colchicum speciosum stev.
Botanical characteristic. Lily family. Perennial herbaceous plant with large corms, which form a long tube at the top, covering the lower part of the shoot. Leafy shoots develop in spring. Their height is 25-40 cm. The leaves are large, oval-oblong. The flowers are large, pink-purple. Seeds are rounded, brown, 2-3 mm in diameter. Blooms in late summer and autumn for several weeks. Leafy shoots and fruits are found the next year (April – May). After insemination, the aerial part of the plant dies off (Fig. 7).
Distribution – Main Caucasian Range, mountains of Transcaucasia, Eastern Georgia. Light-loving plant. It occurs at an altitude of 150 to 2500 m above sea level. It grows in beech, beech-chestnut forests, riverine alder forests, among shrubs, in forest clearings and edges.
Medicinal raw materials. Use fresh corms and seeds. They are harvested during the flowering period of the plant, leaving 10-20% of flowering plants per 100 m 2 for reproduction. Re-harvesting at this place is allowed only after 4-5 years. Corms are cleaned of roots and remnants of leaf sheaths and used fresh. Store them in wet sand for up to 3 weeks. With the improbability of use at this time, they are dried. Seeds are harvested during their full maturity (June – July) and dried, scattered in a thin layer, in a dark, warm place.
Colchicum autumn and brilliant also have medicinal value.
Chemical composition. Corms contain up to 0.25%, and seeds – up to 1.2% of heterocyclic alkaloids (colchicine, colchicein and colchamine), glucoalkaloids, apigenin flavone, aromatic acids, sugars, phytosterols, flavones, etc.
pharmacological properties. The main biologically active substance that determines the pharmacodynamics of the plant is the alkaloid colchamine. It has antimitotic properties and is a karyoclactic poison, capable of delaying the development of malignant tissue. In direct contact with a cancerous skin tumor, it causes the breakdown of malignant cells. When administered parenterally, the alkaloid inhibits the growth of tumor tissue and inhibits hematopoiesis, lowers blood pressure, and has a laxative effect. The alkaloid has cumulative properties.
Application. A pure alkaloid and a 0.5% ointment are used, which, in addition to kolhamin, includes thymol, synthomycin and emulsifiers with fillers. The ointment is prescribed for skin cancer. For this, 1-1.5 g of ointment is applied with a spatula within 0.5-1 cm, covered with a napkin and sealed with a plaster. The bandage is changed every day, making a thorough toilet in the circumference of the tumor. The course of treatment is 18-25 days, less often up to 30-35 days. Then, for 10-12 days, an aseptic bandage and a wound toilet are made. Treatment is carried out under medical supervision. Possible toxic phenomena while applying the ointment to the surface for more than 1.5 g. The ointment is stored according to list A. In folk veterinary medicine, colchicum is used as a powerful laxative, diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic and emetic.
The plant is poisonous and, when eaten, can cause the death of horses and cattle; sheep and goats are more resistant.