Image copyrights 2013 Pam Borland
Gloriosa or Flame Lily is the national flower of Zimbabwe, where it is a protected plant. Queen Elizabeth II was given a diamond brooch in the shape of a flame lily when she visited Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) as a princess in 1947.
It is also the state flower of Tamil Nadu in India and the national flower of Tamil Eelam.
Across the world they have been cultivated by the pharmaceutical industry as they contain the chemical colchicine. Though beautiful, the flowers and leaves are extremely poisonous, causing death to animals and birds if eaten. They grow from tuberous roots and cause problems if they spread into native bushland.
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