AND ORNAMENTAL TREATMENT. 51 



PLATE 33. 



" I have been plucking (plants among) 

 Hemlock, henbane, adder's-tongue, 

 Nightshade, moonwort, libbard's-ba'ne." 



— Jonson's Masque of Queenes. 



The Deadly Nightshade (Atyopa Belladonna), is one of our most striking plants, and 

 possesses so distinct a character of its own that it cannot by any possibility, when once seen, be 

 mistaken for any other plant. It is not at all a common plant however, and its familiar name 

 is often erroneously applied to another plant, the Solanum Dulcamara, or Bitter-sweet ; though, 

 as our readers will see on comparing the leaf, flower, and fruit of this last (figs. 276, 277, 278) 

 with those of the Deadly Nightshade, there is no shadow of resemblance. The Deadly Night- 

 shade is found on waste land, and more especially amongst ruins ; it attains to a height of from 

 three to four feet. The stem is thickly clothed with leaves, these being in pairs, and one 

 always very much larger than the other. The flowers are solitary, tubular in form, of a lurid 

 purple colour, and spring from the axils of the leaves. The blossoms are succeeded by berries 

 that are at first green, but ultimately turn black, and are not unlike a cherry in size and colour ; 

 hence many fatal accidents, as, while the whole plant is poisonous, the berries are especially dele- 

 terious. The generic name, Atropa, is derived from Atropos, one of the evil destinies or Fates 

 in classic mythology. The Nightshade is also often called Dwale, and especially by the older 

 writers,* being derived from the Anglo-Saxon dwal (foolish), in allusion to its stupifying properties, 

 or, as some say, from the French, deuil, mourning. The Danes call the plant Dwale-bcer, literally, 

 torpor-berry ; in Germany, it is the Tollkraut — the toll, frantic or raving, kraut, herb ; while the 

 specific name, Belladonna, is derived from the Italian language, the meaning being "beautiful 

 woman." The name originated in the practice of using the plant as a cosmetic, though we should 

 have imagined that any added beauty thus derived would have been dearly bought. In Spain 

 the plant is known as the Bella dama. 



The Dwale is used medicinally. It is narcotico-acrid, and when applied externally to the 

 eyes, causes great dilation of the pupil — a curious property that has rendered it valuable to oculists 

 in treating various diseases of the eye : the effect follows in a few minutes after the application, 

 and remains for some little time. It is a very dangerous plant where it grows within reach of young 

 children, as the blossoms are somewhat tempting in appearance, and, being sweet to the taste, 

 have frequently proved the source of much mischief; hence, no doubt, its scarcity, as, when 

 found, it is often destroyed as a dangerous plant, and the advice of the old herbalist, Gerarde, 

 is scrupulously followed — " If you will follow my counsell, deale not with the same in any 

 case, and banish it from your gardens, being a plant so furious and deadly. Banish, there- 

 fore these pernitious plants out of your gardens, and all places neere to your houses, where children 

 do resort, which do oftentimes long and lust after things most vile and filthie, and, much more, a 

 berry of a bright shining black coloure, and of such great beautie." 



The Scottish historian, Buchanan, states that the Danes were defeated, or rather destroyed, 

 by the Scottish troops, under Macbeth, through an act of treachery, ale and bread poisoned by the 

 juice of the Dwale being sent as a present, during a truce, to the Danish army under Sweno. The 

 whole story, however, is too dubious in itself, and relates to too mythical a period in Scottish 

 history to possess much value. 



The Woody Nightshade, or Bitter-sweet (Solanum Dulcamara) is a very common hedge- 

 row plant, its size and trailing habit, the brilliant purple of the blossoms, and the bright crimson of 

 the mature fruit, rendering it very conspicuous. The stalks, when tasted, have a slightly bitter 

 flavour, followed by a curious sweetness — a peculiarity pointed out in the specific name Dulcamara 

 and the familiar English name Bitter-sweet, the French Douce-amere, the Spanish Amaradulcis, 

 the Italian Dulcamara, the German Bittersusstangel Though a poisonous plant, it is far less so 

 than the true Deadly Nightshade. The trailing habit, the clustering flowers, the stellate form of 

 the individual blossoms, the smallness and brilliant colour of the fruit, and the lobed and halberd- 

 shaped leaves, are all features that distinguish it very completely from the Atropa Belladonna. 



* " There needeth him no dwale" — Chaucer; i.e., no need of any narcotic to provoke sleep. 



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