4 



Colchicine 



was at their disposal. Such phints might have served their intrigues 

 and provided means lor the elimination ot competitors or persons 

 convicted of crime. 



1.2: Botanical Studies of Colchicum From Dioscorides to Twentieth- 

 Century Investigators 



In the land of Colchis, along the Black Sea, an autumn-flowering 

 crocus-like plant occurs in abundance (Fig. 1.1). Dioscorides, first 

 century botanist-physician, knew about this particular species from 

 either personal observations in the area or through reports by travel- 

 ers to this region. This fall-blooming meadow saffron was named the 



Fig. 1.1 — Flowers of Colchicum autumnale showing only the floral parts above ground. 

 (Photograph, courtesy of General Biological Supply House, Chicago, III.) 



