As a ranger at Bushmanskloof a few years ago, my very good friend Ian Shoebotham and I were on our  few and far between hours off from cleaning land rovers, taking care of guests and generally raiding the BK homestead bar of its single malts; out in the sun looking for new stuff.  One of the plants we were always on the lookout for was this particular gem, the Bushmans Poison Bulb.  (Shoes really is the one got me seriously into this whole Fynbos vibe, and who is also a recent father again so Congrats Shoesie and Michaela, and am sure Olivers future will be filled with many amazing journeys!)

Now we never did find this particular plant but a year after we were both back in the real world Shoes happened to rock up at the farm with this particularly amazing specimen of a bulb.   It’s planted with pride at some undisclosed location now, and has been a constant joy to see growing. This photo is of that very one Shoes brought me and the leaves are always spectacular this time of year.   Another easy choice for this weeks Fynbos Friday is because you may seen Nikey is the Wine Times Hottie of the Week And in his interview it appears if he were a species of Fynbos he would be the Gifbol.  Nice!

Now why is the plant called the Bushmans Poison Bulb?  Well, firstly, it is deadly. Ingested in the wrong doses and you are a goner.  Buphanidrine is known as a powerful analgesic, hallucinogen and neurotoxin.  Lethal doses in Guinea pigs are 8mg/kg.  That’s not much one has to take before you vrek. How it works, is that alkaloiods apparently interfere with several neuroreceptors and ion channels; they are probably cytotoxic and mind altering.

The bulbs are a well documented source of Poison for the Khoi San arrows, another use is the treatment of painful wounds. Like circumsicion.  Yes dears, straight from the International Society for Horticultural Science:

this plant is used among the Xhosa-speaking tribes in South Africa, circumcision is not just a surgery; it is a cultural ceremony by which men are separated from boys. Traditionally, the wound caused by circumcision is bandaged with mashed leaves of Helichrysum pedunculatum Hilliard & Burtt., H. appendiculatum Hilliard & Burtt. or H. longifolium DC (Family Asteraceae). The dry outer covering of the bulb of Boophane disticha Herb. (Family Amaryllidaceae) is used to dress the wound. However, traditional circumcision has a high risk of infection. Hence the antimicrobial properties of the plants used to bandage circumcision wound were examined. Sterilized plant extracts were tested against the common bacteria that infect circumcision wounds, viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus viridans and Escherichia coli, using the agar plate diffusion method. The leaves of Helichrysum pedunculatum exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against all tested bacterial strains.

Now we have covered Helichrysum species before, on Fynbos Fridays, and know about its uses for Blood Pressure, I am a convert after my Way of the Warrior experience…but his plant takes it to a whole new level.  Im not usually cautious about what I try out in the Fynbos, I usually graze on plants as I walk, but this is one bad boy I go nowhere near. Full  stop.  I have heard stories of people having a really difficult time of it after being a little too liberal with their experimenting, and the experiences did not sound like fun at all.   This bulbs importance in our cultural heritage is amazing, from the Khoi San who would have numerous uses for this, to the Xhosa speakers and their use as a pain relief and anti microbial properties, to the Zulu and Shona speakers who would use this to divine and speak to their ancestors.

For a little extra online research try the Erowid, an online vault of stuff about psycoactives and the human uses and experiences.  http://www.erowid.org/