378 SOLANACE^E 



RADIX, 503. Duboisia, 512. CAPSICUM, 516. 



Manaca, 505. C. Stems and Branches. Lycopersicum, 517. 



B. Leaves. Pichi, 513. G. Herb. 



BELLADONNA D. Seeds. *Solanum Carolinense, 



FOLIA, 504. Stramonii Semen, 508. 515. 



STRAMONII FOLIA, Hyoscyami Semen, 510. H. Rhizome. 



507. E. Branches. Scopola, 506. 



BELLADONNA. DEADLY NIGHTSHADE 



The dried root and the dried leaves official. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. At'ropa Belladon'na Linne\ Root perennial, fleshy, 

 white within; stem 3 to 5 feet high, with a tinge of red. Leaves short-petio- 

 late, ovate, acute, entire, more or less hirsute. Flowers solitary, drooping; 

 calyx campanulate; corolla campanulate, twice the length of the calyx, green- 

 ish at the base, varying to dark purple at the border. Berry 9-lobed, violet- 

 black; seeds uniform. 



503. BELLADONNA RADIX 



The dried root of Atropa Belladonna Linn6, yielding, when assayed by U.S. P. proc- 

 ess, not less than 0.45 per cent, of its alkaloids. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. Rough, irregular, longitudinally wrinkled, some- 

 what tapering pieces, from 12 to 25 mm. (^ to i in.) thick, of a 

 dirty -gray color externally, internally whitish; fracture short, mealy 

 when dry, tough when damp; odor narcotic; taste slightly sweetish, 

 afterward bitter and acrid. Tough, woody roots, breaking with a 

 splintery fracture, should be rejected, also the hollow stem-bases 

 sometimes present. 



STRUCTURE. The bark is rather thick, free from bast fibers, composed 

 almost entirely of parenchymatous tissue containing starch-grains 

 and calcium oxalate raphides; directly underneath the periderm is 

 a darker line composed of six to eight tabular cells. In the center 

 of the root is a small pith, surrounded in the younger root by distant 

 wood-fibers scattered throughout the parenchymatous tissue; in older 

 roots the wood-bundles are more numerous, and traversed by broad 

 medullary rays. 



Belladonna is sometimes mistaken for, or adulterated with, althaea, 

 from which it may be distinguished by the smoothness of its outer 

 layer (althaea has projecting fibers), by its fracture, which does not 

 show protruding fiber-ends, and by the wood-bundles, which are 

 readily discernible in the former, but not in the latter. 



ADULTERATIONS. Certain species of Mandragora yield very nearly allied 

 roots both in external appearance and structure, but they are not 

 likely to be confounded with belladonna roots. 



The rhizomes of Scopola carniolica are very similar to the root 

 of belladonna; the bark, however, of the former, is less thick, starch- 

 grains smaller, and shape less distinct. Scopola Japonica (Japanese 

 belladonna) is found to be similar to S. carniolica. 



