Their floral beauty during flowering makes us forget that the autumn crocus has a dark side. The autumn-flowering onion plant is toxic in all parts. Read here what the toxic content of Colchicum autumnale is.
Is the autumn crocus poisonous?
The autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) is a highly poisonous plant, all parts of which contain toxic ingredients, especially the alkaloid colchicine. The lethal dose is 10-20 mg, which is equivalent to about 2 g of onion flesh or 5 g of seeds. If poisoned, symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, nausea and cardiac arrest occur.
Poisonous like arsenic – The treacherous danger of autumn crocus
The autumn-flowering onion plants are filled with alkaloids. These include colchicine, which has similarities to arsenic. The lethal dose is 10 to 20 mg, which is equivalent to about 2 g of onion flesh or 5 g of seeds. This means that autumn crocus poses a lethal danger, particularly for children, domestic animals and grazing animals. Fatally, the first symptoms of poisoning only appear after a few hours, which makes treatment more difficult because gastric lavage no longer helps.
Typical symptoms of autumn crocus poisoning
If the first symptoms of colchicine poisoning appear, the poison has already been in the body for several hours. The first signs should therefore be known in order to act immediately, because now every minute counts. What you should pay attention to:
- Gradually worsening difficulty swallowing
- A burning, scratchy feeling in the mouth and throat
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- Falling blood pressure with a simultaneous drop in body temperature
If the person affected does not receive medical treatment immediately, death will occur due to cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis. The patient experiences this torment fully conscious until the end. The most common cause is confusing the leaves with wild garlic. Children also put the flowers in their mouths. Sometimes the relatively large flower bulb is swapped for a kitchen onion.
Tip
If you don't want to tolerate such a poisonous plant in your garden, removing it requires a lot of perseverance. Herbicides rarely reach the bulbs lying deep in the ground from which autumn crocus repeatedly sprouts. It is better if you consistently weed the green leaves every May to starve the plant in the long term.
