Atropa belladona: The Deadly Nightshade :: Botany

genus Atropa belladona The Deadly NightshadeWhat might a person bothered with intense gas, or accelerator pedal to be blunt, do in todays society? Perhaps they would visit a type of health food store for a type of common immanent remedy. Often, the mangers at such stores recommend that comphrey tea be taken to relieve the problem. However, after taking just such a concoction of the tea demolish and water, one man became light-headed, agitated, confused and had problems urinating. His pupils became dilated, he had a rapid heartbeat and warm dry skin. After admitting himself to the hospital, the doctors concluded that his comphrey tea was contaminated by Atropa belladona.....the deadly nightshade.(11) This very poisonous plant acquired its name from Theophrastus back in the third century B.C. It has been termed the Mandragora of Theophrastus. Its English name, Dwaule, is derived from a Dutch word dwaul, signification to wander or to be delirious.(1) It is a perennial herb, and one of the more important species of the nightshade family. Because it is so poisonous it was given the name Atropos, which is the Greek word for inflexible. another(prenominal) meaning is that it refers to one of three Fates who cut the thread of life.(2) Taxonomically, Atropa belladona is classified in the Solanaceae, a family that also includes the common potato, tobacco and chile pepper. This species probably came before from southern Europe and Asia, unless is today naturalized in many parts of the world. The plant itself stands between two and six feet in height. Its green berries depart to a shiny purplish-black as the plant matures. Some people say the berry is sweet and others say its bitter tasting, but all agree that the sizing is like the common cherry. To many, the entire plant has a very nauseating odor. The plant also has a thick root, a five-lobed calyx, leaves that are simple, ovate and alternate, and cave man bell shaped flowers. Today, belladona is a very importan t plant to science and the medical field because of its chemical content. Dioscorides knew of the active constituent of this species in the first century, but it wasnt discovered for another eighteen hundred-years. In 1809, the chemical was isolated and by 1819 it was classified an alkaloid. Today, we know that belladona contains atropine, scopolomine and hyoscyamine. According to the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, atropine is extremely poisonous.(2) It is so potent that a dilution of hardly 1 part in 130,000 parts water is sufficient to dilate the pupil of a cats eye.