sea onion

sea onion

n.

1. The squill Urginea maritima, whose bulb yields a powder used as a rat poison and formerly used medicinally.

2. Any of various similar bulbous plants.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

sea onion

Herbal medicine
A cabbage-like plant that grows in the sandy soils of the Mediterranean rim and South Africa. Of the two variants—red and white squill—the latter is of greater use as a herb, as it has less of the toxin scilliroside; the active principles in squill are antitussive, cardiotonic (due to scillarens A and B), diuretic and expectorant.

Toxicity
Scilliroside is a potent emetic, and was formerly used as a rat poison.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.