Bakong
Crinum asiaticum · Poison bulb
- Names in the book
- Bakog̃, Tag.
- Colours
- flowerwhite
- Native range
- Tropical Asia to the Pacific
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae, filed in the book under Amaryllidaceæ
- Printed as
- Crinum Asiaticum, L. (C. giganteum, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 231 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Crinum asiaticum, commonly known as poison bulb, giant crinum lily, grand crinum lily, or spider lily, is a plant species widely planted in many warmer regions as an ornamental. It is a bulb-forming perennial producing an umbel of large, showy flowers that are prized by gardeners. However, all parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. Some reports indicate exposure to the sap may cause skin irritation. Crinum asiaticum is native to East Asia, tropical Asia, Australia and islands of the Pacific and western Indian oceans.
Excerpt from “Crinum asiaticum” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 71 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 16 provinces, most often Metropolitan Manila (3), Aklan (3), Palawan (3), Davao del Sur (2), Bataan (1), Batanes (1), Benguet (1), Camarines Sur (1), and 8 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The decoction of the leaves is used in the Philippines as an expectorant. The plant is official in the Pharmacopœia of India as an emetic and in small doses is nauseant and diaphoretic. As an emetic the dose of the fresh juice of the root is 8–16 grams every 10 minutes till vomiting occurs. Dr. W. O’Shaughnessy, writing from Bengal, states that this is the only indigenous and abundant emetic plant of which he has experience, which acts without producing griping, purging, or other unpleasant symptoms. In a communication to Dr. Waring he remarks that it is a good emetic and diaphoretic whenever ipecacuanha is not at hand but that it should be regarded not so much as a substitute for that article as a resource in case of need.
The leaf juice is used in India to drop into the ears for disease of these organs.
One of the infinite remedies used by the Filipinos under the name of “contrapoisons,” without specifying or knowing what poison, is the powdered root of Crinum, given internally with a little water. They also use the leaves locally for the itch, bruising them and rubbing the affected parts energetically with them. I may note here in passing, what I have written before: that the Filipinos have from time immemorial been familiar with the sarcopt of scabies (Kahaw) which they pick out with a needle or spine of some fish or vegetable.
Botanical description
A plant with globose, scaly root. Leaves keeled or ridged. Flowers white, on a flattened stalk, on a spathe of 2 leaflets and several dry threads enclosing 4 flowerets. Corolla funnel-form, tube long and triangular; limb cut in 6 horizontal lanceolate lobes. Stamens 6, shorter than corolla. Anthers long. Stigma with 3 points. Seed vessel inferior, 3-celled, each cell containing a seed.
Habitat.—Very common on the seashore and in groves of mangrove trees. Blooms in July.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Betulin and Crinum asiaticum L. bulbs extract attenuate pulmonary fibrosis by down regulating pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory cytokines in bleomycin-induced fibrosis mice model
- Isolation of bioactive phytochemicals from Crinum asiaticum L. along with their cytotoxic and TRAIL-resistance abrogating prospect assessment
- Acetylcholinesterase inhibition studies of alkaloid components from Crinum asiaticum var. sinicum: in vitro assessments by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations