138 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



and the real Star of Bethlehem {Ornithogalum 

 umbellatum), whose bulbs in Palestine are cooked 

 and eaten. 



But if the bulbs and young shoots of some 

 members of this singularly " mixed " family are 

 esteemed as table delicacies, not so the bulbs and 

 shoots of the Colchicum, for these are poisonous 

 to a high degree — in fact, the whole of the plant 

 may be labelled " Dangerous." Although the 

 flower is less poisonous than the seed and the 

 bulb, yet many a time I have seen bees which 

 had sought refuge from the night or from rough 

 and stormy weather, lying prone and stark within 

 the lovely pink chalices, victims of a misplaced 

 confidence. The seed contains a deadly alkaloid 

 (colchicin), used especially in cases of gout. Where 

 the plant grows in quantities it depreciates the 

 value of the meadows ; for the cattle, wiser in their 

 generation than the bees, give it a wide berth at all 

 seasons. And it is no easy subject to drive from 

 the fields when once it has gained firm footing. 

 It buries its dark chestnut-coloured, scaly bulb at 

 least a foot down in the peaty soil, necessitating 

 the cutting of a good-sized hole before it can be 

 extirpated. Hence, if it is growing as it almost 

 invariably does, in fairly close-packed abundance, 



