Name: Squill (Urginea maritime)
Otherwise known as: Sea squill, Scilla, Sea Onion
Habitat: A perennial member of the Liliaceae family, growing up to 1.5m in sandy or rocky soil around the Mediterranean coastline. The plant produces lance shaped, onion-like leaves emerging from a half submerged bulb, which may weigh up to 2kg. The leaves die away in summer and leave a long, flowering spike of white, star-shaped flowers that produce oblong seeds. The bulb and juice are poisonous.
What does it do: Squill was well-known to the ancients and is referred to by Homer as the sea onion, and was mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus as an object of veneration for its ability to treat heart disease. Dioscorides employed essence of Squill in his vinegar, which was used as a diuretic, while Pliny refers to its emetic properties. In Mediterranean countries a number of monastic herbals refer to a preparation made from the bulbs mixed with olive oil as a hair restorative (Macharas Herbal). The Arab physicians of Avicenna introduced Squill to Europe where preparations made from the bulb are still employed by modern herbalists.
The plant contains the cardiac glycosides Scillotoxin, Scilliprin, Scillin, Sinistrin. It is diuretic, expectorant, emetic, stimulant, cardio-tonic, cathartic, antispasmodic. Squill is used by herbalists to treat whooping cough, dry coughs, bronchial asthma and in cases of oedema (excessive fluid in the tissues). William Wittering, the 18th century physician who extracted Digitalis from Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) to treat dropsy, also experimented with Squill. Extracts from the plant are to be found in modern hair preparations that claim to treat dandruff and excessive oil in the scalp.
Red Squill (Urginea indica), a sister plant found in Cyprus, is a powerful rodenticide and was grown around fig trees to repel rats. In Cyprus, farmers would place the bulbs in their stored grain sacks. Recent research indicates that the chemicals found in the bulb will act as an insecticide and are being employed in third world countries to combat insect predation of stored food.
Squill is a very handsome and stately plant that makes an attractive addition to the rear of the flower-bed.
A word of caution; care must be exercised when handling the bulbs as the juice can cause severe skin irritation.
Next dangerous plant Mountain Laurel
