TERMIUM Plus®

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RED SQUILL [1 record]

Record 1 2016-03-11

English

Subject field(s)
  • Botany
Universal entry(ies)
DEF

A cabbage-size onion of the family Liliaceae that may weigh up to 13 pounds with a stalk that can grow to nearly 5 feet high ... It grows wild in sandy coastal areas fringing the Mediterranean, in South Africa and on the coast of the Canary Islands ... Although sea onions are grown in cultivation, most of the world's supply of derivative chemical comes from the wild plants. The chemical may differ, depending on the color of the bulb's outer layers. Although one name for the species as a whole is red squill, two varieties exist: white and red. Both kinds contain the medical drugs for which the bulbs are sought, but the red variety, which is largely collected in Algeria and Cyprus, also contains a highly poisonous substance, scillirocide. Therefore, only white squill is commonly used as a medicinal source.

OBS

The dried bulb contains the cardiac glycoside scillirocide, which has the same pharmacological properties as other digitalis-like glycosides.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Botanique
Entrée(s) universelle(s)
OBS

Plante [de la famille des Liliacées à très gros bulbe] à feuilles radicales, à fleurs blanches, bleues, lilas ou roses, des régions tempérées de l'Ancien Monde. Elle est douée de propriétés diurétiques et cardio-toniques.

Spanish

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