Autumn crocus

Colchicum autumnale

Colchicaceae

Naked ladies — a lilac autumn flower without leaves, deadly, and the saffron lookalike this folio exists to name.

Poison-garden teaching plate. Colchicine is a prescription drug with a narrow window. This plant kills. It is not saffron.

Parts used: None for self-care. Pharmaceutical colchicine only.
Traditional notes: Historical gout medicine — now a measured hospital drug
Grow · USDA 6b: Corm, USDA 4–8. Common in ornamental catalogs. If you grow it for the flower, label the bed in three languages. Keep it far from Crocus sativus. In work: Aug · Sep · Oct
Harvest: Do not harvest for spice or medicine.

Six stamens, no red culinary threads, flowers without leaves: Colchicum.
Three stamens, three red threads, grass-like leaves: Crocus sativus.
Naked ladies is a pretty name for a deadly corm.

Safety

All unsupervised internal use Any kitchen use

Lookalikes

Saffron — Colchicum in a paella is a poison, not a spice. True saffron is Crocus sativus; autumn crocus is a lily in disguise.

Lore

Colchis, Medea’s country, named it. The Greeks already knew it as a poison. Modern gout clinics use colchicine in micrograms; the corm contains a lottery. Medieval ‘hermodactyl’ was this plant in the pharmacy. The saffron confusion is newer and worse, because it happens in a kitchen.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.