Meadow saffron
Colchicum; hermodactyl
- Known today as
- Colchicum autumnale.
- Kind
- Plant, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- colchicine
- Poisoning
- Gastrointestinal irritants
- Earliest authority here
- Dioscorides (c. AD 40–90)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Lore added from texts read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Deadly. Deadly; mistaken for wild garlic.
Meadow saffron: what was it used for?
The medieval hermodactyl, against gout; a notorious poison.
Meadow saffron: what does modern science say?
Colchicine is still prescribed for gout, in small doses, and is deadly in larger ones.
Meadow saffron: is it poisonous?
Yes, and it can kill. Deadly; mistaken for wild garlic. Its poisoning is gastrointestinal irritants: Thirty minutes to three hours: the short latency is reassuring, since the deadly syndromes come later. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- Mechanism
- Colchicine binds tubulin and stops the dividing cell, in the gut lining and the marrow first.
- Checked against ChEMBL
- colchicine: ChEMBL’s curated mechanism: inhibitor Tubulin.
- Toxic dose
- About 0.8 mg per kilogram; a handful of the corm.
- Syndrome
- Gastrointestinal irritants
- Standing
- Colchicine is a licensed drug for gout and familial Mediterranean fever, with a narrow margin.
- Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies, 11th ed. (2019). Standard reference work
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Meadow saffron: what lore surrounds it?
Thiselton-Dyer's proverb for actions that turn out otherwise than expected, “You set saffron and there came up wolfsbane,” and the Exeter farmer's praise of a farm that “he'd let so dear as saffron,” belong to the true saffron; the meadow saffron borrowed the name and none of the luck.
Meadow saffron: what did the older authorities say?
- Dioscorides
- Warns that it kills as poisonous mushrooms do, by choking.
- Anton von Störck
- The Viennese physician tested it carefully and published on it in 1763.
Sources
- Dioscorides, De materia medica. Read in part · the text read
- Störck, A. von (1763), his treatise on the root of meadow saffron. Book, not indexed
- Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. (1889). The Folk-lore of Plants. Project Gutenberg #10118. Read in part · the text read
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- The mechanism read against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37): curated mechanisms and measured activity
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 4 cited: 2 read in part, 1 standard reference work, 1 book, not indexed.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Meadow saffron.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadow-saffron.
- MLA
“Meadow saffron.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadow-saffron. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Meadow saffron. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadow-saffron
Club members keep entries on a shelf with private notes, print the plates as cards, and receive an entry by email each week. Create a free account before January 1, 2027 and all of it is yours for good. About the Club
See Also
Poisoned alike: gastrointestinal irritants
Melon root · Livid pinkgill · Mistletoe · Jalap · Morel · Jack-o’-lantern · Pokeweed · Honey fungus · the syndrome, with all of them →
Also in Dioscorides
Mastic in Dioscorides · Mullein in Dioscorides · Marjoram and jasmine in Dioscorides · everything Dioscorides names →
Also in Anton von Störck
Hemlock in Anton von Störck · everything Anton von Störck names →
Drawing on the same sources: Dioscorides, Thiselton-Dyer
Moonwort · Masterwort and angelica · Mustard seed · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Meadowsweet · Mayapple · Milkweed · Mint, oil of (Oil of garden or spear mint) · Marking-nut electuary (Semecarpus anacardium (note XLIV))
Historical description, not medical advice.