Common Name:

General Information

Eleutherine bulbosa is a bulbous plant, producing a clump of grass-like leaves 15 - 75cm tall[].
The plant is often harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. Eleutkerine bulbosa is an important element of the American Indian pharmacopeia and is one of few neotropical Iridaceae with known medicinal uses. It is often cultivated in gardens maintained by Indian tribes, and is also fairly widely grown in the tropics as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuadot, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; Caribbean - Trinidad to Cuba.

Habitat

Widely cultivated, the original habitat is not known[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	0.40 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows best in full sun.
The plant has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized in the Philippines and Indochina, and is cultivated in Kwazulu, South Africa, where it is also used medicinally[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The bulbs are antibacterial, demulcent and haemostatic[]. They are used in the Ireatment of a wide range of conditions including sore throat, pertussis, boils, impetigo, jaundice, haemoptysis, uterine haemorrhage, trauma, wounds, abortion, anaemia, headache and photopsia, and also in inserting and intra-uterine device[]. The red bulb is crushed and mixed with water then drunk to kill intestinal parasites and worms[, ]. The sap is mixed with salt and used as a remedy for epileptic fits. It is also sometimes mixed with rum and rubbed on the body for that same purpose[].
Applied externally, the bulb is used in the form of a plaster to treat sprains, to encourage cicatrization of wounds, and for tired blood[]. The pulverised pulp of the bulb is mixed with oil to which a cockroach is added, and used to treat an infected wound caused by rusty nail[]. The bulb is widely documented in the literature and in herbaria as a treatment for bloody diarrhoea, haemorrhagia and open wounds, and even as a contraceptive[]. It is taken in order to procure an abortion up to the third or fourth month of pregnancy[].
The bulbs, harvested when the plants begin to wither, are well washed, cut into thin slices and dried at a low temperature[]

The root is used in the treatment of female infertility and haemorrhages[].

The plant (part not specified) is used as a diuretic[].

The bulb contains chrysophanol naphthoquinones and anthraquinones[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - usually a sexually sterile plant, it does not often form seed[].

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