Not often seen in Devon, we have deadly nightshade growing in Sidmouth, probably an escapee from one of the older gardens. In nature it is a plant of woodland edges, but it has been cultivated for many centuries as a medicinal herb. Small doses of the berry juice can be used as an anaesthetic, but all parts of the plant are highly toxic, it is said that Livia used the plant to murder her husband the Emperor Augustus.
Deadly nightshade is in an interesting family of plants. The Solanaceae includes other less poisonous plants including black nightshade and woody nightshade, both of which are common around Sidmouth, but also edible plants such as tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines.
Deadly nightshade is a medium sized perennial with purple bell shaped flowers that give way to the large, single berries, shiny black and about the size of a blueberry. You are much more likely to find its smaller cousin black nightshade which has yellow and white flowers and clusters of dull black berries smaller than petit pois.
The great Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus assigned the scientific name Atropa belladonna in 1753, meaning deadly beautiful lady. Atropos was the Greek Fate responsible for cutting the thread of a human life, a clear reference to the plant’s poison.
The belladonna is a reference to the Renaissance practice where Italian women used juice extracted from the plant as cosmetic eye drops. The active chemical compound atropine causes the pupils to dilate by paralysing the muscles of the iris, creating a dark, glossy-eyed look that was considered attractive at the time. Modern optometrists use a synthetic derivative to dilate pupils when examining the inner parts of the eyes.
Atropine is the main toxic ingredient of the nightshade family, it works by blocking the nervous system’s message transfers. It can cause hallucinations and witches were supposed to use it mixed with opium to help them fly or at least to feel as if they were flying.
One surprising use of atropine is as an antidote to poisoning by organophosphate insecticides and some nerve gases.
All parts of the plant contain atropine and most insects avoid it, but the caterpillars of the tiny speckled bittersweet moth will live inside the leaf as a leaf miner and slugs can eat the leaves without harm. Although highly toxic to humans, rabbits, deer and farm livestock have been known to browse without harm, nature is strange.
Ed Dolphin
Related Posts:
