Effect of Pollination Methods on Seed Yield and Colchicine Content in Glory Lilly (Gloriosa superba L.)

The medicinal properties of Gloriosa superba, a perennial herb reproducing both by seed and tuber, are due to presence of colchicine in its seeds and tubers. The weak stemmed aerial part is annual which dries off after setting seed. Harvesting its tubers for medicament leads to destructive harvesting. Using seeds for drug purposes (with higher colchicines content as compared to tuber) has the advantage of annual harvest and also avoiding destructive harvesting. However, seed production under natural condition is quite low and uneconomical. It has been found that seed setting in the species is pollen limited. Results obtained have revealed that although the species is both self as well as cross compatible but seed setting is significantly influenced by pollination methods used. Controlled selfing between different flowers on the same plant have given significantly higher seed setting as compared to other methods tried. There was considerable increase in number of seeds produced per capsule (42.26) and dry seed weight per plant (1.13 g). It is suggested that for increasing seed set different flowers on the same plant should be selfed (Gnetonogamy) at stigma receptive stage.