| Mandragora officinarum | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Genus: | Mandragora |
| Species: | M. officinarum |
| Binomial name | |
| Mandragora officinarum | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
(Based on a broad circumscription ofM. officinarum)
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Mandragora officinarum is thetype species of the plantgenusMandragora in the nightshade familySolanaceae.[3] It is often known asmandrake, although this name is also used for other plants. As of 2015[update], sources differed significantly in the species they use forMandragora plants native to theMediterranean region. The main species found around the Mediterranean is calledMandragora autumnalis, the autumn mandrake. In a broadercircumscription, all the plants native to the regions around the Mediterranean Sea are placed inM. officinarum, which thus includesM. autumnalis. The namesautumn mandrake andMediterranean mandrake are then used.[4] Whatever the circumscription,Mandragora officinarum is a perennial herbaceous plant with ovate leaves arranged in a rosette, a thick upright root, often branched, and bell-shaped flowers followed by yellow or orangeberries.
Because mandrakes containdelirianthallucinogenictropane alkaloids (atropine,scopolamine, andhyoscyamine) which causedelirium andhallucinations,[3] and the shape of their roots oftenresembles human figures, they have been associated with a variety of religious and spiritual practices throughout history.[3] They have long been used inmagicrituals,[3] today also incontemporary Pagan practices such asWicca andHeathenry.[5] However, the so-called "mandrakes" used in this way are not always species ofMandragora let aloneMandragora officinarum; for example,Bryonia alba, the English mandrake, is explicitly mentioned in some sources.
As of 2015[update],Mandragora officinarum has three or four differentcircumscriptions (seeTaxonomy below). The description below applies to a broad circumscription, used in a 1998 revision of the genus, in which the name is used for all the plants native toMediterranean region.[2] Thus defined,Mandragora officinarum is a very variableperennialherbaceous plant with a long thick root, often branched. It has almost no stem, the leaves being borne in a basal rosette. The leaves are very variable in size and shape, with a maximum length of 45 cm (18 in). They are usually either elliptical in shape or wider towards the end (obovate), with varying degrees of hairiness.[2]
The flowers appear from autumn to spring (September to April). They are borne in the axils of the leaves. The flower stalks (pedicels) are also very variable in length, up to 45 cm (18 in) long. The fivesepals are 6–28 mm (0.2–1.1 in) long, fused together at the base and then forming free lobes to about a half to two-thirds of their total length. The fivepetals are greenish white to pale blue or violet in colour, 12–65 mm (0.5–2.6 in) long, and, like the sepals, joined together at the base with free lobes at the end. The lobes are between half as long as the petals to almost as long. The fivestamens are joined to the bases of the petals and vary in length from 7 to 15 mm (0.3 to 0.6 in). The anthers of the stamens are usually yellow or brown, but are sometimes pale blue.[2]
The fruit which forms in late autumn to early summer (November to June) is aberry, shaped like a globe or an ellipsoid (i.e. longer than wide), with a very variable diameter of 5–40 mm (0.2–1.6 in). When ripe, the fruit is glossy, and yellow to orange – somewhat resembling a small tomato. It contains yellow to light brown seeds, 2.5–6 mm (0.10–0.24 in) long.[2]
Earlier, a different circumscription was used, in whichMandragora officinarum referred only to plants found in northern Italy and part of the coast of formerYugoslavia, most Mediterranean mandrakes being placed inMandragora autumnalis.[6][7] The description above would then apply to both species combined, withM. officinarum having greenish-white rather than violet petals, up to 25 mm (1 in) long rather than usually 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in) or longer, and a berry that is globose rather than ellipsoid.[6] More recently, plants native to theLevant have been separated out asMandragora autumnalis, leaving those found in the rest of the Mediterranean area asM. officinarum. One difference then is that the size of the seeds ofM. officinarum is less than half the size of those ofM. autumnalis.[8]
Mandragora officinarum was first described in 1753 byCarl Linnaeus in the first edition ofSpecies Plantarum.[9][10] It is thetype species of the genusMandragora.[7] (Linnaeus later changed his mind and in 1759 placedM. officinarum in the genusAtropa asA. mandragora.[11]) Linnaeus regardedM. officinarum as the sole species in the genus, at that time only known from theMediterranean region. Jackson and Berry (1979)[7] and Ungricht et al. (1998)[2] have documented some of the subsequent confusion over the number of Mediterranean species ofMandragora and their scientific names. Ungricht et al. describe the confusion as "incredible" and a "morass".[2]
The first confusion relates to the name "Mandragora officinalisMill.", dated to 1768 in the eighth edition ofPhilip Miller'sThe gardener's dictionary. However, this work uses the epithetofficinarum, not "officinalis".[12] There is a reference to "Mandragora officinalis" as a synonym in the 9th edition ofThe gardener's dictionary of 1807. However, there was no such earlier use of the name, and Ungricht et al. say that "officinalis" is an orthographic error for the correct epithetofficinarum, so that the name "Mandragora officinalisMill." (and any subsequent uses of this epithet) have "no real nomenclatural standing".[2]
The second confusion relates to the number of Mediterranean species ofMandragora (a confusion which continues). At different times, between one and five taxa have been recognized.[2]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. Flowering time was also used to distinguish species; thus in the 1820s,Antonio Bertoloni named two species asMandragora vernalis, the spring-flowering mandrake, andMandragora autumnalis, the autumn-flowering mandrake.[2] Since the late 1990s, three maincircumscriptions ofMandragora officinarum have been used and all three will be found in current sources.
In the circumscription in whichMandragora officinarum is the only Mediterranean species, it is native to regions around theMediterranean Sea, within the borders ofTunisia,Algeria andMorocco in north Africa; southernSpain, southernPortugal,Italy includedSardinia andSicily, (Niccolò Machiavelli wrote the playLa Mandragola (The Mandrake) about it), formerYugoslavia,Greece andCyprus in southern Europe; southernTurkey;Syria,Lebanon, and thePalestine region in theLevant. It is usually found in open habitats, such as light woodland and disturbed sites, including olive groves, fallow land, waysides, railway embankments and ruins, from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft).[2]
WhenMandragora autumnalis is regarded as the main Mediterranean species,M. officinarum is native only to north Italy and part of the coast of formerYugoslavia.[6] Alternatively,M. officinarum is absent from the Levant, where it is replaced byM. autumnalis.[8]
All species ofMandragora contain highly biologically activealkaloids,tropane alkaloids in particular.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.[13] Jackson and Berry were unable to find any differences in alkaloid composition betweenMandragora officinarum (using the narrowest circumscription of this species) andMandragora autumnalis (viewed as the main Mediterranean species). Alkaloids present in the fresh plant or the dried root includedatropine,hyoscyamine,scopolamine (hyoscine),scopine,cuscohygrine,apoatropine,3-alpha-tigloyloxytropane,3-alpha,6-beta-ditigloyloxytropane andbelladonnines. Non-alkaloid constituents includedsitosterol and beta-methylesculetin (scopoletin).[7][13]
The alkaloids make the plant, in particular the root and leaves, poisonous, viaanticholinergic,hallucinogenic, andhypnotic effects. Anticholinergic properties can lead toasphyxiation. Ingesting mandrake root is likely to have other adverse effects such as vomiting and diarrhea. The alkaloid concentration varies between plant samples, and accidental poisoning is likely to occur. Clinical reports of the effects of consumption ofMandragora officinarum (asMandragora autumnalis) include severe symptoms similar to those ofatropine 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.[14][15]
Mandrake has a long history of medicinal use, althoughsuperstition has played a large part in the uses to which it has been applied.[16] WebMD, which categorises the herb European Mandrake derived from Mandragora officinarum under the heading "Vitamins & Supplements", declares that it is UNSAFE for anyone to use European mandrake for medicinal purposes.[17] In the UK, The Prescription Only Medicines (Human Use) Order 1997, in its Schedule 1,[18] identifies "Mandragora autumnalis" as a substance which, if included in medicinal products, makes those products prescription only medicines, and therefore only prescribable by those categories of appropriate practitioners specified in Regulation 214 of The Human Medicines Regulations 2012.[19] Medical herbalists are not recognised as "appropriate practitioners" under this legislation. As of 2019,Mandragora autumnalisBertol.[20] is an accepted species distinguishable fromMandragora officinarumL.,[21] so it follows that mandrake preparations and products derived fromMandragora officinarumL. may not actually be covered by this UK legislation. However, the European Medicines Agency, which oversees the registration of herbal medicinal products in the European Union, does not recognise mandrake, and indeed anyMandragora species, as an approved herbal medicinal product, substance, or preparation under the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products.[22]
The root ishallucinogenic andnarcotic. In sufficient quantities, it induces a state ofunconsciousness and was used as ananaesthetic forsurgery in ancient times.[23] In the past, juice from the finely grated root was applied externally to relieverheumatic pains.[23] It was also used internally to treatmelancholy,convulsions, andmania.[23] When taken internally in large doses, however, it is said to excitedelirium and madness.[23]
In the past, mandrake was often made intoamulets which were believed to bring good fortune and cure sterility. In one superstition, people who pull up this root will be condemned tohell, and the mandrake root would scream as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it.[5] Therefore, in the past, people have tied the roots to the bodies of animals and then used these animals to pull the roots from the soil.[5] Inancient Rome, it was used as a painkiller duringsurgery.[24][25][26]
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