Scadoxus multiflorus Raf. Amaryllidaceae. Blood Flower, Poison root, Fireball Lily. Distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa. The genus name is a concatenation of the Greek words, Sciadion meaning a parasol or umbel, and doxa meaning 'glorious'

multiflorus is Latin for 'many flowers' (Stearn, 1994). The juice of the bulbs is an ingredient of arrow poisons in several countries in Guinea and Nigeria it is used as a fishing poison. 25 gm of leaf or bulb is sufficient to kill a sheep or a goat, and the leaves are just as toxic as the bulbs. It is used in Senegal for heart failure, and elsewhere for wounds, a lubricant for cows at parturition, scabies and (in India) for colds and asthma. It contains numerous alkaloids including galanthamine. This has antiacetylcholinesterase activity and has been proposed as being useful in Alzheimer's syndrome. It also reverses the effects of curare. The effects of all the alkaloids have been studied and are numerous. See Neuwinger (1996). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.