SOLANACE^E. IX. MANDRAGORA. X. ATROPA. 



455 



Tourn. inst. p. 76. t. 12. Lin. hort. cliff p. 51. Blackw. t. 

 364. Sabb. hort. rom. 1. t. 1. Juss. gen. p. 125. Gaertn. 

 fruct. 2. p. 237. t. 131. f. 1. D. C. syn. fl. gall. p. 236. 

 A'tropa species, Lin. gen. and most other authors. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx turbinate, 5-an- 

 gled, 5-cleft. Corolla campanulate, 5-cleft. Stamens 5. Fila- 

 ments dilated at the base, and connivent, but filiform and diva- 

 ricate at apex. Ovarium furnished with a circular gland round 

 the base, which is drawn out into 2 horns. Stigma capitate, 

 furrowed. Berry globose, apple-shaped, fleshy, solid, 1 -celled, 

 having the receptacles rather prominent inside. Seeds many, 

 reniform, peripheric, disposed in a simple series. Stemless, 

 fetid plants, with broad radical leaves ; large, fusiform, usually 

 forked roots ; and numerous single-flowered scapes, which are 

 always shorter than the leaves. 



1 M. OFFICINA' RUM (Lin. spec. ed. 1st. p. 181.) leaves ob- 

 long-lanceolate and ovate, acute, a foot long, undulated, quite 

 entire, at first erect, then spreading; root and flowers white ; 

 segments of the calyx lanceolate, linear, acuminated ; segments 

 of corolla acute. 2/.H. Native of Spain, Switzerland, Italy, 

 &c. Bertol. el. pi. hort. bon. 1824. p. 6. M. officinalis, Mill, 

 diet. no. 1. fig. t. 173. M. acaulis, Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 236. 

 t. 131. f. 1. M. vernalis, Spreng. A'tropa Mandragora, Lin. 

 spec. 259. Bull. herb. t. 145. Plenk. off. t. 126. Corolla 

 bluish. Fruit as large as a nutmeg, of a yellowish green 

 colour when ripe. Root white, fleshy, usually bifid, 3-4 feet 

 long. The roots are supposed to bear a resemblance to the 

 human form, and are figured as such in old herbals, being 

 distinguished into the male with a long beard, and the female 

 with a prolix head of hair. It has been fabled to grow 

 under a gallows, where the matter falling from the dead 

 body gave the root the shape of a man ; to utter a shriek or 

 groans at digging up ; and it was asserted that he who would 

 take up a plant of Mandrake should in common prudence tie a 

 dog to it for that purpose, for if a man should do it himself he 

 would surely die soon after, ex Linnaeus. The whole plant is 

 reputed poisonous, though in small doses it was used medicinally, 

 and particularly as an opiate. 



Officinal or Common Mandrake. Fl. May, June. Clt. 

 1548. PI. 1 foot. 



2 M. PRJE'COX (Sweet, fl. gard. 1. 1 98.) leaves lanceolate-oblong, 

 obtuse, undulated, bullately wrinkled, villously pubescent, rising 

 at the same time with the flowers ; calycine segments lanceolate, 

 acute, keeled ; segments of corolla spreadingly reflexed, acute ; 

 scapes aggregate. I/. H. Native of Switzerland. A'tropa 

 Mandragora, p, Lam. diet. 1. p. 391. Pers. ench. 1. p. 218. 

 A'tropa Mandragora femina, Bull. herb. t. 146. M. officinalis, 

 ,3. D. C. fl. fr. no. 2689. Hall. helv. no. 578. Corolla 

 woolly, of a yellowish-brown, tinged with blue. This plant 

 flowers two months earlier than M. ternalis, Spreng., and is 

 also much smaller. 



Early Mandrake. Fl. March, April. Clt. 1819. PI. i 

 foot. 



3 M. AUTUMN-A'LIS (Bertol. el. pi. hort. bon. 1820. p. 6. D. 

 Don, in Sweet, fl. gard. n. s. t. 325.) leaves oblong, pilose, 

 wrinkled, undulated, beset with warty bristles on the upper sur- 

 face, as well as the calyx ; calycine segments lanceolate, acu- 

 minated, keeled from the midrib ; corolla spreading, with ellip- 

 tic, obtuse segments ; berry oblong, mucronate. I/ . H. Native 

 of the South of Italy ; and Greece, about Athens and Elis, and 

 is likewise found in some of the Islands of the Archipelago. 

 A'tropa Mandragora, Sibth. et Smith, fl. graec. 3. p. 26. t. 232. 

 M. macrocarpa, Bertol. Scapes pale purple, shorter than the 

 leaves. Corolla violet-coloured, not unlike those of a species 

 of Campanula. This plant is chiefly distinguished from .17. 

 vernalis in the blunt lobes of the corolla, and the oblong pointed 

 berry. It is, moreover, altogether a larger plant. This is pro- 



FIG. 39. 



bably the Mandrake mentioned in the Scriptures, in the 30th 

 chapter of Genesis. 



Autumnal Mandrake. Fl. Dec. Clt. 1548. PI. foot. 



Cult. The species of Mandrake thrive best in a deep light 

 soil, in a shady situation. They are only to be increased by 

 seed. The roots are extremely apt to rot during winter. 



X. A'TROPA (from arpoa-oe, atropot, one of the destinies ; 

 derived from a priv. ; and rpcirw, Irepo, to turn ; in refer- 

 ence to the poisonous effects of the species.) Lin. gen. no. 249. 

 Schreb. gen. no. 335. Juss. gen. 125. ed. Usteri, p. 140. 

 Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 240. t. 131. Lam. ill. t. 114. f. 2. H. B. 

 et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 11. Belladonna, Tourn. inst 

 t. 13. 



LIN. SYST. Pentandria, Monogynia. Calyx loose, 5-cleft, 

 permanent. Corolla campanulate ; limb usually 5-cleft, rarely 

 10-cleft, spreading. Stamens 5, generally exserted, conniving 

 at the base ; anthers dehiscing lengthwise. Stigma peltately 

 depressed. Berry globose, propped by the permanent spreading 

 calyx ; placentas free, and distant from the dissepiment. Seeds 

 numerous, reniform. Caulescent shrubs or herbs. Leaves scat- 

 tered, twin, entire. Peduncles extra-axillary, 1-2, or many- 

 flowered. Corolla violaceous or greenish. 



1. Limb of corolla IQ-cleft or 10- toothed ; the alternate lobes 

 or teeth smaller. 



1 A VIRIDIFLORA (H. B. Ct 



Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 11. t. 196.) stem suffruticose, 

 twining ; leaves twin, elliptic- 

 ovate, subacuminated, quite en- 

 tire, hairy ; peduncles 2-flow- 

 ered ; flowers, drooping ; 

 limb of corolla 10-cleft. fj . 

 *"\ S. Native of New Gra- 

 nada, between the town of 

 Pasto and Chilanquer, at the 

 altitude of 850 hexapods. 

 A'tropa flexuosa, Willd. rel. ex 

 Roem. et Schultes, syst. 4. p. 

 686. Corolla tubularly funnel- 

 shaped, green, 3-4 times longer 

 than the calyx, hairy, furnished 

 with 5 tubercles on the outside 

 at the base. Filaments gla- 

 brous, dilated at the base. This and A. aspera of Ruiz, et Pav. 

 might probably form a distinct genus. 



Green-flowered Deadly Nightshade. Shrub twining. 



2 A. A'SPERA (Ruiz, et Pav. 2. p. 45.) stem herbaceous, an- 

 gular, pilose ; leaves twin, unequal, oval-oblong and lanceolate, 

 quite entire or subsinuated, hairy ; peduncles 1 -flowered, droop- 

 ing; limb of corolla 10-cleft. %. S. Native of Peru, on hills 

 about Lima. Stem dichotomous, branched. Peduncles extra- 

 axillary, or in the forks of the stem. Corolla yellowish-blue, 

 violaceous in the centre, with 5 of the segments acute, and the 

 alternating 5 emarginate. Filaments hairy, violaceous. Berry 

 white, size of a pea. Seeds red. 



Rough Deadly Nightshade. PL 2 feet. 



3 A. HIRTE'LLA (Spreng. syst. 1. p. 699.) herbaceous ; leaves 

 ovate, acute, scabrous ; branches rough ; peduncles elongated, 

 1-flowered, filiform. Q. H. Native of Brazil. 



Hairy Deadly Nightshade. PI. ? 



2. Limb of corolla 5-cleft. Stems frutescent. 



4 A. UMBKLLA'TA (Ruiz, et Pav. fl. per. 2. p. 44. 1. 181. f. a.) 



