193 ATROPA BELLADONNA 



inch in diameter, deep purple-black, smooth, sliming, surrounded 

 at base by the enlarged persistent calyx, 2 -celled, fruit- stalk 

 erect. Seeds numerous, crowded, lightly attached to the axile 

 placentas, rounded or oval or faintly kidney-shaped, about T g of 

 an inch in diameter, minutely pitted and reticulated ; embryo 

 curved on itself in the endosperm. 



Habitat. This plant grows in waste ground and stony bushy 

 places throughout Central and Southern Europe (not reaching 

 farther north than Denmark), South- West Asia, and Algeria. 

 In England it is found chiefly on chalk and limestone, from West- 

 moreland southwards, and though abundant in places, it is a local 

 species and perhaps less common now than formerly ; from being 

 frequently found near ruins it has been by some writers con- 

 sidered to be introduced to this country. It is cultivated for 

 medicinal use in a few places in France, England, and North 

 America, and has become semi-wild in the latter country. Bella- 

 donna is quite unlike any other plant, and the confusion so often 

 made between it and Solanum Dulcamara can only be due to 

 both having been called Nightshade. The fruit of Belladonna is 

 about the size, and has somewhat the appearance, of a black 

 cherry, with a slightly sweet taste. The seeds are readily 

 recognisable under a lens from those of other solanaceous plants, 

 and have been not inaptly compared to miniature Sultana 

 raisins. 



Dunal, 1. c., p. 464; Syme, E. B., vi, p. 100; Hook. ., Stud. FI., 

 p. 257; Wats, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 252; Grenier & God., FL 

 France, ii, p. 545 ; Lindley, Fl. Med., p. 509. 



Official Parts and Names. 1. BELLADONNA FOLIA; the fresh 

 leaves, with the branches to which they are attached ; also the 

 leaves separated from the branches and carefully dried ; gathered 

 from wild or cultivated British plants when the fruit has begun 

 to form: 2. BELLADONNA EADIX; the dried root, cultivated in 

 Britain or imported from Germany : 3. ATEOPIA ; an alkaloid 

 obtained from Belladonna: (B. P.). 1. The leaves (Belladonna 

 Folia), gathered when the fruit has begun to form : 2. The dried 



