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Colchicum variegatum / Autumnal Meadow-saffron / Güz Acıçiğdemi, Sürincan

Colchicum variegatum / Autumnal Meadow-saffron / Güz Acıçiğdemi, Sürincan

Colchicum variegatum / Autumnal Meadow-saffron / Güz Acıçiğdemi, Sürincan from Fethiye, Muğla.


Çok yıllık otsu bir bitki olan bu acıciğdem türünün Çiçeklenmesi: Eylül-Kasım aylarıdır. Habitatı: subalpin Pinus (Çam) korulukları, Erica ve Juniperus çalılıkları, Abies ormanlarıdır.


Vertikal dağılışı: 150-1700 m.;Türkiye dağılımı: GB., G. Anadolu; Genel Dağılımı : Türkiye, Yunanistan (Cyclades).


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Colchicum is a genus of flowering plants containing around sixty species of perennial plants which grow from corms –(a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat )-. It is a member of family Colchicaceae (order: Liliales), and is native to West Asia and part of the Mediterranean coast. Most species are confined to limited regions, some of which are very rich in species. The high frequencies of species and of endemics in Turkey and the Balkans indicate that these regions are major centres of diversity and speciation. In this genus the ovary of the flower is underground. As a consequence, the styles are extremely long in proportion, often more than 10cm. Many kinds of alkaloids have been identified in Colchicum. The major alkaloid of Colchicum is colchicine.


The use of colchicine for treatment of gout was propounded by different researchers. Moreover, colchicine has an inhibitory effect on the growth of certain tumours in plants and animals. Colchicine acts on the mitotically active cell producing metaphasic arrest, often resulting in a doubling of the chromosome number and giving rise to polyploids. Its leaves, corm and seeds are poisonous, containing the alkaloid colchicine. When these poisonous alkaloids are accidentally ingested by humans and animals, they cause very serious health problems such as serious liver damage and finally death. All parts of Colchicum species have been shown to contain colchicine, but seeds and corms contain more colchicine than other plant parts.


Colchicum variegatum is distributed in southwestern and Central Turkey plus southern Greece (Cyclades), and regarded as a rather tender species. It is distinguished by its smallish heavily chequered (tessellate) rosy purple flowers which appear from August to October in its latitudes (150-1700 m). 10-15cm. It enjoys rocky and stony slopes, among limestone boulders in rich terra rossa, a warm sheltered site in very frosty areas.


Kaynaklar/References: 1. TUBİVES, 2. Wikipedia., 3. Alpine Garden Society4. Dinç Düşen, O. & Sümbül, H. (2007). A Morphological Investigation of Colchicum L. (Liliaceae) Species in the Mediterranean Region in Turkey. Turkish Journal of Botany, 31: 373-419.


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