Belladonna

For 2000 years, Belladonna (also referred to as 'Deadly Nightshade') has been used in both medicinal and cosmetic ways. It's toxic qualities made it a perfect poison. Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, used it to poison his enemies before a battle. The berries of the plant, pictured here, hold the greatest concentration of atropine in the plant, thus are the most toxic part.

It is believed that it was a juice of belladonna that Juliet drank in Romeo and Juliet , the sedative sending her into a deep sleep. Belladonna is mentioned in another of Shakespeare's plays: Macbeth.

Belladonna was found effective in treat measles in the past, as well as being used as a pain killer.

Belladonna's name is one of the most fascinating things about this plant.

It's general name, or genus, Atropa comes from Greek mythology. Atropa was the name of one of the Fates who would hold the string which represented a human life and cut it, representing that person's death. This refers to Belladonna's often toxic nature.

The name belladonna, comes from the Italian 'beautiful lady'. Italian women would take either the leaf of the plant and rub it in their eye, or drop a small amount of diluted berry juice into their eye, causing their pupil to dilate This would make their eyes seem more lustrous and beautiful. Thus the name.

There are other rumours around the name belladonna. As the plant's toxic use was found, it became known as the plant of the devil. It was believed that the plant would take on the form of a beautiful woman and lure people to their deaths by making them eat a berry.

The main chemical constituent of belladonna, atropine, is a sedative and has been used as a anaesthetic. It is a motor inhibtor, relaxing the muscles of the digestive system quite effectively. It also represses secretions, which makes it useful as as anaesthetic for surgeries which require less liquid in the system.There are also pain killing qualities found in atropine.

The plant dilated Italian woman's eyes through mydriasis, the dilation of the eye caused by atropine.

Another constiuent of belladonna is scopolamine, which reduces motion sickness and lately has found use as a drug for Parkinson's Disease, as it reduces tremor and helps speech and mobility.

Belladonna is an extremely dangerous plant. It's poisonous qualities have been exploited through the centuries, but we must not forget the acccidental deaths it has caused. The berries of the plant (which contain the largest amount of atropine in the plant), seeming attractive, have found their way to the mouths of many young children in Europe over the centuries, causing their deaths.

Death is caused by the dampening of the respiratory system by the atropine contained within the plant, as well as the constriction of the circulatory system. Coma and death often follow.