Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Glory lily (Gloriosa superba), of the Colchicaceae family. Slender tendril-climbing herb springing from a forked underground tuber, with showy recurved red-yellow flowers; native range: scrub and forest edges of tropical Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Globally recognized as langali in Sanskrit, kalihari, kariyari in Hindi, and glory lily, flame lily, climbing lily in English. The part used is tuber. Firm white starchy tuber, bitter and acrid, numbing and burning to the tongue if tasted.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
GLORY LILY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- glory lily
- Scientific name
- Gloriosa superba L.
- Family
- Colchicaceae
Form
- Part used
- tuber
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu, tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna virya)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- bears down and expels, promotes labour and afterbirth, scrapes and cleanses, applied to skin diseases and stubborn swellings
Cautions
- Contraindications
- absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy except to induce expulsion under supervision, and in the weak, the young and the aged
- Toxicity
- a deadly poison rich in colchicine; overdose brings burning of the mouth, vomiting, bloody purging, collapse and death
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