Mandrake or Mandragora

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

 

 

 

 

 Mandragora

The name Mandragora is derived from two Greek words implying 'hurtful to cattle. ' The Arabs call it 'Satan's apple'. 

 Family:
Solanaceae (Potato).

Botanical Name:
Mandragora officianarum.

Synonyms:
Satan's Apple, mandragora, love apple, Circe's plant, Dudaim.

Geographical Location:
Native to Southern Europe, especially around the Mediterranean regions of Greece and Rome. It should not be confused with Podophyllum peltatum, or mayapple, which grows in the United States.

Habitat:
Uncultivated fields and stony wastelands. It can be cultivated in gardens if given a warm situation; it does not survive severe winters.

Description:
Mandrake has a large brown root (like a parsnip), running 3 to 4 feet into the ground. The root is thick and is frequently forked like two legs. It has a short stem topped by ovate leaves. Its fruit consists of orange-coloured fleshy berries. Another species of mandrake, Mandragora autumnalis, flowers in winter on the island of Rhodes, and has beautiful mauve and mauve-white blossoms. The fruit, the golden red love apples, ripens in May.

Botanical nomenclature:
Mandragora Officinarum, European Mandrake or Attropa Mandragora.

Note:
American Mandrake (Podophyllum Pellatum) is NOT related to the European Mandrake.

 

 

Mandrake root does fall into the herbal classification of anodyne (like aconite, belladonna, & coca leaves), which contains those herbs which are pain relievers (often narcotic), and does work as a soporific (sleep inducer). It is also an anaesthetic, causing nerve endings to lose sensation, making them less aware of pain. Mandrake is also an emetic, causing the stomach to contract and induce vomiting. When used externally, it can help reduce infections, and also has laxative properties when ingested in a suspension. Mandrake is also known to be helpful in easing rheumatism (primarily due to it's pain-relieving properties).

 Chemistry

Today, modern science has revealed that the mandrake root falls into the classification of an anodyne, like belladonna and coca leaves. Two of the active chemical components in the man­drake root are scopolamine and atropine, both powerful depressants. The mandrake is also exceptionally rich in mandragorine, a powerful narcotic and hyp-

notic. Its primary effects are as a depressant, hallucinogen   and hypnotic. It is easy to see how aphrodisiacal powers as well as the danger of madness or death might well be attributed to it. It is also an emetic and a purgative, causing the stomach to contract. Perhaps this is the origin of its use as an aid to childbearing. But in any case, direct ingestion of the root is not recommended: The effect of the mandrake is extremely unpredictable and very toxic.

Mandrake in the Ancient Times:

*~*Among the old Anglo-Saxon herbals both Mandrake and periwinkle are endowed with mysterious powers against demoniacal possession. At the end of a description of the Mandrake in the Herbarium of Apuleius there is this prescription:

'For witlessness, that is devil sickness or demoniacal possession, take from the body of this said wort mandrake by the weight of three pennies, administer to drink in warm water as he may find most convenient - soon he will be healed.'

*~*Bartholomew gives the old Mandrake legend in full, though he adds: 'It is so feynd of churles others of wytches.' He also refers to its use as an anaesthetic:

'the rind thereof medled with wine . . . gene to them to drink that shall be cut in their body, for they should slepe and not fele the sore knitting.'

Bartholomew gives two other beliefs about the Mandrake which are not found in any other English Herbal - namely, that while uprooting it the digger must beware of contrary winds, and that he must go on digging for it uptil sunset.

 

 References:

 Daniel. (n.d.). Description-Mandrake, plant, root, herb . Retrieved September 13, 2007 from http://www.emandrake.com/public/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=4&MMN_position=2:2

Erowid. ( 1998 ). Plants - image index. Retrieved September 13, 2007 from http://www.erowid.org/plants/show_image.php?i=mandrake/mandragora_officinarum_plant__i2004e0136_disp.jpg

Redgrave, Lynn. ( 1999-3907 ). A Brief Account of Mandrake through the Ages. In Mandrakery. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2007 from http://www.redgrave.com/mandrake/mandrakery.htm