Common Name:

General Information

Crinum erubescens is a perennial plant growing up to 90cm tall from an underground bulb up to 10cm in diameter. It produces a cluster of strap-shaped leaves up to 90cm long and 8cm wide[, ].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use. It is grown as an ornamental, valued especially for its flowers.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

S. America - Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guyanas; C. America - Panama to southern Mexico.

Habitat

Wet soil or shallow water, usually at the margins of streams or lakes, chiefly at low elevations, but collected as high as 1,800 metres in Guatemala, possibly only as an escape from cultivation[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	0.75 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in full sun or partial shade[].
Bulbs are sensitive to transplanting and can take several years to become established. After this, they will usually reproduce rapidly from offsets to produce the overcrowded conditions that stimulate them to flower freely[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The plant is rubbed on the skin of babies to calm them when they are miserable[]. I assume this refers to the aerial parts of the plant - the bulb of most, if not all, species in this genus is rubefacient and can cause severe irritation[].

A gum obtained from the plant is grated, mixed with water, and drunk as an antidiarrheal[].

The grated bulb is used to help extract larvae of epidermal parasites (mainly Dermatobia hominis), by means of applying the pulp to the respiratory orifice of the larva and thus causing asphyxiation, as well as the loosening of its hooks[].
The root is grated, soaked in warm water, and tied around the knees and joints as an anth-arthritic[].

The leaves are taken to induce vomiting, as laxative, and for the treatment of biliousness[].
The warmed leaves are used topically as a medicament for abscesses and mumps[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, placing 2 - 3 seeds in individual pots. Do not cover the seed. Once they have germinated, you can thin each pot to just one plant if required, though we have not found this to be necessary. Give an occasional liquid feed to ensure that the plants do not suffer nutritional deficiencies. Grow them on until large enough to plant out.
Division of offsets when the plant is dormant.

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