| Mandragora | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mandragora officinarum | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Subfamily: | Solanoideae |
| Tribe: | Mandragoreae |
| Genus: | Mandragora L. |
| Species | |
Mandragora is aplantgenus belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Members of the genus are known asmandrakes. Between three and fivespecies are placed in the genus. The one or two species found around theMediterranean constitute the mandrake of ancient writers such asDioscorides. Two or three further species are found eastwards into China. All areperennialherbaceous plants, with largetap roots and leaves in the form of arosette. Individual flowers are bell-shaped, whitish through to violet, and followed by yellow or orangeberries.
Like many members of the Solanaceae, species ofMandragora contain highly biologically activealkaloids that make the plants poisonous.[1] Their roots in particular have a long use intraditional medicine.[2] Mandrakes are involved in many myths and superstitions.[2]
Species ofMandragora are perennial herbaceous plants. They have large vertical tap roots, sometimes forked. Their stems are short or virtually absent. The leaves form a rosette at the base of the plant. The flowers are sometimes borne on a short stalk (scape), and are solitary, with whorls of five parts. Thesepals are joined at the base, as are thepetals, both in the shape of a lobed bell. Thestamens are shorter than the petals, joined to the floral tube towards the base. Theovary has two chambers (locules). After fertilization, a yellow or orange fruit forms (botanically a berry).[3][4]
The genusMandragora was first used in 1753 byCarl Linnaeus in the first edition ofSpecies Plantarum where the Mediterranean speciesMandragora officinarum was described,[5][6] which is thus thetype species of the genus.[7] (Linnaeus later changed his mind and in 1759 placedM. officinarum in the genusAtropa asA. mandragora.[8])
Jackson and Berry (1979)[7] and Ungricht et al. (1998)[9] have documented the subsequent confusion over the number of Mediterranean species ofMandragora and their scientific names. Dioscorides was among those who distinguished between "male" and "female" mandrakes,[7] a distinction used in 1764 when Garsault published the namesMandragora mas andMandragora foemina.[9] The size and shape of the fruit and the colour and time of appearance of the flowers have been used to distinguish possible species. In the 1820s,Antonio Bertoloni used flowering time to name two species asMandragora vernalis, the spring-flowering mandrake, andMandragora autumnalis, the autumn-flowering mandrake. Identifying the former as Linnaeus'sM. officinarum, works such asFlora Europaea listed two Mediterranean species ofMandragora:M. officinarum andM. autumnalis.[4][7] Using statistical analysis of morphological characters, Ungricht et al. found no distinct clusters among the specimens they examined and concluded that Linnaeus'sM. officinarum is a single, variable species.[9] Other sources divideM. officinarumsensu lato differently. Plants from the western Mediterranean, from Turkey westwards to the Iberian peninsula and Morocco, are placed inM. officinarum; plants from the eastern Mediterranean, from Syria to Israel, are placed inM. autumnalis.[10]
Traditionally,Mandragora has been considered to be closely related toAtropa andLycium, being grouped together in the same tribe or subtribe as at least the first of these genera.[9]Molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that the genus belongs in the large subfamily Solanoideae, but that within this subfamily, it is one of a number of isolated genera with no immediate relatives.[11][12] It has thus been placed in its own tribe, Mandragoreae.[10]
Within the genus, studies have used differentcircumscriptions of the Mediterranean mandrakes. Two studies that separate plants found in theLevant (Mandragora autumnalis) from those found in the rest of the Mediterranean area (Mandragora officinarum) suggest that there are two clades in the genus - one based in the Mediterranean and beyond to Turkmenistan and Iran, and one in the Sino-Himalayan region. A simplified cladogram based on these studies is shown below.[10][13] In one of the studies,M. chinghaiensis was embedded withinM. caulescens.[10]
| Mandragoreae |
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The Solanaceae are primarily aNew World family.Mandragora is suggested to have originated around 20 million years ago, arriving inEurasia through the agency of birds, with the main split between the species occurring around 10 million years ago.[10]
As of March 2015[update], major online plant databases (such asTropicos,The Plant List, andGRIN Taxonomy for Plants) accept different numbers of species in the genusMandragora. Three species are accepted in a 1998 review of the genus and by GRIN.[9][14] Other sources keepM. autumnalis andM. chinghaiensis as separate species.[10]
Like many members of the Solanaceae, species ofMandragora contain highly biologically active alkaloids,tropane alkaloids in particular.[20]Hanuš et al. reviewed thephytochemistry ofMandragora species. More than 80 substances have been identified; their paper gives the detailed chemical structure of 37 of them.[21] The different parts of the plant contain different proportions and concentrations of alkaloids, with the roots having the highest concentrations. Alkaloids present includeatropine,apoatropine,belladonnine,cuscohygrine,hyoscyamine,scopolamine (hyoscine),3α-tigloyloxytropane, and3α,6β-ditigloyloxytropane.[7][9]M. caulescens andM. turcomanica are also reported to containanisodamine.[19][22]
Clinical reports of the effects of consumption of plants described asM. autumnalis (M. offinarumsensu lato) include severe symptoms similar to those of atropine poisoning, including blurred vision, dilation of the pupils (mydriasis), dryness of the mouth, difficulty in urinating, dizziness, headache, vomiting, blushing, and a rapid heart rate (tachycardia). Hyperactivity and hallucinations also occurred in the majority of patients.[23][24][25]
Mandragora species have a long use in traditional medicine, extracts being used for their real or supposedaphrodisiac,hypnotic,emetic,purgative,sedative, and pain-killing effects.[26] Tropane alkaloids are known to be effective asanalgesics andanaesthetics, and can be used to increase circulation and dilate pupils, among other effects.[9]Hyoscine andanisodamine are used medicinally in China.[19] Continued use ofM. autumnalis infolk medicine was reported inSicily in 2014.[27]M. caulescens (asM. chinghaiensis) has been listed as a Chinese medicinal plant needing conservation.[28]
The presence ofdeliriant andhallucinogenic alkaloids and the sometimes vaguelyhumanoid shape of their roots have led to mandrakes being associated with a variety of myths and superstitious practices throughout history.[9][26] However, the plants used in this way are not always species ofMandragora; for example, bryony (Bryonia) is explicitly mentioned as the source of a "mandrake" or "mandragora" in some sources.[29]
Fatur was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).