Autumn crocus/meadow saffron

The bulb-like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corm" title="Corm">corms</a> of Colchicum autumnale contain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicine" title="Colchicine">colchicine</a>, a useful drug with a narrow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_index" title="Therapeutic index">therapeutic index</a>. Colchicine is approved by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Food_and_Drug_Administration" title="U.S. Food and Drug Administration" class="mw-redirect">US FDA</a> for the treatment of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout" title="Gout">gout</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familial_Mediterranean_fever" title="Familial Mediterranean fever">familial Mediterranean fever</a>. Colchicine is also used in plant breeding to produce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploidy" title="Polyploidy" class="mw-redirect">polyploid</a> strains. A synthetic chemical compound, called ICT2588, which is similar to one from the autumn crocus, is in the early stages of drug development for the treatment of some types of cancer. In experimental testing it was successfully used to treat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer" title="Breast cancer">breast</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowel_cancer" title="Bowel cancer" class="mw-redirect">bowel</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer" title="Lung cancer">lung</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer" title="Prostate cancer">prostate cancers</a> in mice when used in combination with the drug <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxorubicin" title="Doxorubicin">doxorubicin</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicum_autumnale#cite_note-1">[1]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicum_autumnale#cite_note-2">[2]</a>