Common Names: Deadly Nightshade, Dwale, Nightshade, Deadly, Nwar Boton, banewort, witches berry, sorcerer's berry, death's herb, devil's cherries Danger: The whole plant, and especially the root, is very poisonous. Even handling the plant has been known to cause problems if the person has cuts or grazes on the hand. The plant is particularly dangerous for children since the fruit looks attractive and has a sweet taste. The toxins are concentrated in the ripe fruit.
Habitat: Woods, thickets and hedges, mainly on calcareous soils
Magickal Uses: *Poison* Feminine. Saturn. Water. Deities: Hecate, Bellona, Circe
Highly toxic. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous. Encourages astral projection and produces visions, but belladonna is best avoided. A primary ingredient in flying ointments. Used in funeral rituals to aspurge the circle, helping the deceased to let go and move forward. Used to invoke Circe. Gather berries when they are ripe (around Samhain.) Store with onyx. Medicinally, it has been used as a sedative.
As every part of the plant is extremely poisonous, neither leaves, berries, nor root should be handled if there are any cuts or abrasions on the hands. The root is the most poisonous, the leaves and flowers less so, and the berries, except to children, least of all. It is said that an adult may eat two or three berries without injury, but dangerous symptoms appear if more are taken, and it is wiser not to attempt the experiment. Though so powerful in its action on the human body, the plant seems to affect some of the lower animals but little. Rabbits, sheep, goats and swine eat the leaves with impunity, and birds often eat the seeds without any apparent effect, but cats and dogs are very susceptible to the poison. -- Grieve's Modern Herbal
Edible Uses: NONE
Medicinal Uses: Analgesic; Antidote; Antispasmodic; Diuretic; Hallucinogenic; Homeopathy; Mydriatic; Narcotic; Sedative. Although it is poisonous, deadly nightshade has a long history of medicinal use and has a wide range of applications, in particular it is used to dilate the pupils in eye operations, to relieve intestinal colic and to treat peptic ulcers. The plant can be used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, reducing tremors and rigidity whilst improving speech and mobility. It has also been used as an antidote in cases of mushroom or toadstool poisoning. This is a very poisonous plant, it should be used with extreme caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner.
All parts of the plant are analgesic, antidote, antispasmodic, diuretic, hallucinogenic, mydriatic, narcotic and sedative. The root is the most active part of the plant, it is harvested in the autumn and can be 1 - 3 years old, though the older roots are very large and difficult to dig up[4, 7]. The leaves are harvested in late spring and dried for later use. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. The leaves contain on average 0.4% active alkaloids, whilst the root contains around 0.6%. The alkaloid content also varies according to the development of the plant, being low when the plant is flowering and very high when bearing green berries. These alkaloids inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system which controls involuntary body activities. This reduces saliva, gastric, intestinal and bronchial secretions, as well as the activity of the urinary tubules, bladder and intestines. An extract of the plant has been used as eyedrops. It has the effect of dilating the pupils thus making it easier to perform eye operations. In the past women used to put the drops in their eyes in order to make them look larger and thus 'more beaufiful'. The entire plant, harvested when coming into flower, is used to make a homeopathic remedy. This is used especially in cases where there is localised and painful inflammation that radiates heat. It is also used to treat sunstroke and painful menstruation.
Cultivation: Succeeds in any well-drained moisture retentive soil in sun or partial shade. Prefers a calcareous soil. When grown as a medicinal plant, the highest levels of the medically active alkaloids are obtained from plants growing on a light, permeable chalky soil, especially when on a southwest facing slope. The highest concentrations are also formed when the plant is growing in a sunny position and in hot summers. The northerly limits of cultivation are about 50 - 55° north and at an altitude between 100 - 200 metres. This species is widely cultivated, especially in eastern Europe, for the medically active compounds it contains. These are used in the drugs industry to produce a range of medicines. Plants tend to be short-lived. Slugs are very fond of this plant and have been known to completely remove the outer bark from the stems.
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Germination of stored seed is slow and erratic, usually taking 1 - 6 months at 10°c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of softwood terminal shoots in spring. Root cuttings in winter
---Description---The root is thick, fleshy and whitish, about 6 inches long, or more, and branching. It is perennial. The purplishcoloured stem is annual and herbaceous. It is stout, 2 to 4 feet high, undivided at the base, but dividing a little above the ground into three - more rarely two or four branches, each of which again branches freely.
The leaves are dull, darkish green in colour and of unequal size, 3 to 10 inches long, the lower leaves solitary, the upper ones in pairs alternately from opposite sides of the stem, one leaf of each pair much larger than the other, oval in shape, acute at the apex, entire and attenuated into short petioles.
First-year plants grow only about 1 1/2 feet in height. Their leaves are often larger than in full-grown plants and grow on the stem immediately above the ground. Older plants attain a height of 3 to 5 feet, occasionally even 6 feet, the leaves growing about 1 to 2 feet from the ground.
The whole plant is glabrous, or nearly so, though soft, downy hairs may occur on the young stems and the leaves when quite young. The veins of the leaves are prominent on the under surface, especially the midrib, which is depressed on the upper surface of the leaf.
The fresh plant, when crushed, exhales a disagreeable odour, almost disappearing on drying, and the leaves have a bitter taste, when both fresh and dry.
The flowers, which appear in June and July, singly, in the axils of the leaves, and continue blooming until early September, are of a dark and dingy purplish colour, tinged with green, large (about an inch long), pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, the corolla with five large teeth or lobes, slightly reflexed. The five-cleft calyx spreads round the base of the smooth berry, which ripens in September, when it acquires a shining black colour and is in size like a small cherry. It contains several seeds. The berries are full of a dark, inky juice, and are intensely sweet, and their attraction to children on that account, has from their poisonous properties, been attended with fatal results. Lyte urges growers 'to be carefull to see to it and to close it in, that no body enter into the place where it groweth, that wilbe enticed with the beautie of the fruite to eate thereof.' And Gerard, writing twenty years later, after recounting three cases of poisoning from eating the berries, exhorts us to 'banish therefore these pernicious plants out of your gardens and all places neare to your houses where children do resort.' In September, 1916, three children were admitted to a London hospital suffering from Belladonna poisoning, caused, it was ascertained, from having eaten berries from large fruiting plants of Atropa Belladonna growing in a neighbouring public garden, the gardener being unaware of their dangerous nature, and again in 1921 the Norwich Coroner, commenting on the death of achild from the same cause, said that he had had four not dissimilar cases previously.
It is said that when taken by accident, the poisonous effects of Belladonna berries may be prevented by swallowing as soon as possible an emetic, such as a large glass of warm vinegar or mustard and water. In undoubted cases of this poisoning, emetics and the stomach-pump are resorted to at once, followed by a dose of magnesia, stimulants and strong coffee, the patient being kept very warm and artificial respiration being applied if necessary. A peculiar symptom in those poisoned by Belladonna is the complete loss of voice, together with frequent bending forward of the trunk and continual movements of the hands and fingers, the pupils of the eye becoming much dilated.
Habitat: Woods, thickets and hedges, mainly on calcareous soils
Magickal Uses: *Poison* Feminine. Saturn. Water. Deities: Hecate, Bellona, Circe
Highly toxic. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous. Encourages astral projection and produces visions, but belladonna is best avoided. A primary ingredient in flying ointments. Used in funeral rituals to aspurge the circle, helping the deceased to let go and move forward. Used to invoke Circe. Gather berries when they are ripe (around Samhain.) Store with onyx. Medicinally, it has been used as a sedative.
As every part of the plant is extremely poisonous, neither leaves, berries, nor root should be handled if there are any cuts or abrasions on the hands. The root is the most poisonous, the leaves and flowers less so, and the berries, except to children, least of all. It is said that an adult may eat two or three berries without injury, but dangerous symptoms appear if more are taken, and it is wiser not to attempt the experiment. Though so powerful in its action on the human body, the plant seems to affect some of the lower animals but little. Rabbits, sheep, goats and swine eat the leaves with impunity, and birds often eat the seeds without any apparent effect, but cats and dogs are very susceptible to the poison. -- Grieve's Modern Herbal
Edible Uses: NONE
Medicinal Uses: Analgesic; Antidote; Antispasmodic; Diuretic; Hallucinogenic; Homeopathy; Mydriatic; Narcotic; Sedative. Although it is poisonous, deadly nightshade has a long history of medicinal use and has a wide range of applications, in particular it is used to dilate the pupils in eye operations, to relieve intestinal colic and to treat peptic ulcers. The plant can be used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, reducing tremors and rigidity whilst improving speech and mobility. It has also been used as an antidote in cases of mushroom or toadstool poisoning. This is a very poisonous plant, it should be used with extreme caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner.
All parts of the plant are analgesic, antidote, antispasmodic, diuretic, hallucinogenic, mydriatic, narcotic and sedative. The root is the most active part of the plant, it is harvested in the autumn and can be 1 - 3 years old, though the older roots are very large and difficult to dig up[4, 7]. The leaves are harvested in late spring and dried for later use. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. The leaves contain on average 0.4% active alkaloids, whilst the root contains around 0.6%. The alkaloid content also varies according to the development of the plant, being low when the plant is flowering and very high when bearing green berries. These alkaloids inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system which controls involuntary body activities. This reduces saliva, gastric, intestinal and bronchial secretions, as well as the activity of the urinary tubules, bladder and intestines. An extract of the plant has been used as eyedrops. It has the effect of dilating the pupils thus making it easier to perform eye operations. In the past women used to put the drops in their eyes in order to make them look larger and thus 'more beaufiful'. The entire plant, harvested when coming into flower, is used to make a homeopathic remedy. This is used especially in cases where there is localised and painful inflammation that radiates heat. It is also used to treat sunstroke and painful menstruation.
Cultivation: Succeeds in any well-drained moisture retentive soil in sun or partial shade. Prefers a calcareous soil. When grown as a medicinal plant, the highest levels of the medically active alkaloids are obtained from plants growing on a light, permeable chalky soil, especially when on a southwest facing slope. The highest concentrations are also formed when the plant is growing in a sunny position and in hot summers. The northerly limits of cultivation are about 50 - 55° north and at an altitude between 100 - 200 metres. This species is widely cultivated, especially in eastern Europe, for the medically active compounds it contains. These are used in the drugs industry to produce a range of medicines. Plants tend to be short-lived. Slugs are very fond of this plant and have been known to completely remove the outer bark from the stems.
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Germination of stored seed is slow and erratic, usually taking 1 - 6 months at 10°c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of softwood terminal shoots in spring. Root cuttings in winter
---Description---The root is thick, fleshy and whitish, about 6 inches long, or more, and branching. It is perennial. The purplishcoloured stem is annual and herbaceous. It is stout, 2 to 4 feet high, undivided at the base, but dividing a little above the ground into three - more rarely two or four branches, each of which again branches freely.
The leaves are dull, darkish green in colour and of unequal size, 3 to 10 inches long, the lower leaves solitary, the upper ones in pairs alternately from opposite sides of the stem, one leaf of each pair much larger than the other, oval in shape, acute at the apex, entire and attenuated into short petioles.
First-year plants grow only about 1 1/2 feet in height. Their leaves are often larger than in full-grown plants and grow on the stem immediately above the ground. Older plants attain a height of 3 to 5 feet, occasionally even 6 feet, the leaves growing about 1 to 2 feet from the ground.
The whole plant is glabrous, or nearly so, though soft, downy hairs may occur on the young stems and the leaves when quite young. The veins of the leaves are prominent on the under surface, especially the midrib, which is depressed on the upper surface of the leaf.
The fresh plant, when crushed, exhales a disagreeable odour, almost disappearing on drying, and the leaves have a bitter taste, when both fresh and dry.
The flowers, which appear in June and July, singly, in the axils of the leaves, and continue blooming until early September, are of a dark and dingy purplish colour, tinged with green, large (about an inch long), pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, the corolla with five large teeth or lobes, slightly reflexed. The five-cleft calyx spreads round the base of the smooth berry, which ripens in September, when it acquires a shining black colour and is in size like a small cherry. It contains several seeds. The berries are full of a dark, inky juice, and are intensely sweet, and their attraction to children on that account, has from their poisonous properties, been attended with fatal results. Lyte urges growers 'to be carefull to see to it and to close it in, that no body enter into the place where it groweth, that wilbe enticed with the beautie of the fruite to eate thereof.' And Gerard, writing twenty years later, after recounting three cases of poisoning from eating the berries, exhorts us to 'banish therefore these pernicious plants out of your gardens and all places neare to your houses where children do resort.' In September, 1916, three children were admitted to a London hospital suffering from Belladonna poisoning, caused, it was ascertained, from having eaten berries from large fruiting plants of Atropa Belladonna growing in a neighbouring public garden, the gardener being unaware of their dangerous nature, and again in 1921 the Norwich Coroner, commenting on the death of achild from the same cause, said that he had had four not dissimilar cases previously.
It is said that when taken by accident, the poisonous effects of Belladonna berries may be prevented by swallowing as soon as possible an emetic, such as a large glass of warm vinegar or mustard and water. In undoubted cases of this poisoning, emetics and the stomach-pump are resorted to at once, followed by a dose of magnesia, stimulants and strong coffee, the patient being kept very warm and artificial respiration being applied if necessary. A peculiar symptom in those poisoned by Belladonna is the complete loss of voice, together with frequent bending forward of the trunk and continual movements of the hands and fingers, the pupils of the eye becoming much dilated.
This very rare type of nightshade carries yellow blossom and fruit. Caution: The whole plant is very poisonous and is particularly dangerous for children!The tention of a name which combines the Greek Goddess of destiny Atropos with bella donna, Latin for beautiful lady, speaks for itself. Caution: The whole plant is very poisonous and is particularly dangerous for children!Growing instructions
This plant is a cold-germinator. The sowing must be kept cold for a period of some weeks (refrigerator) or you sow them in very early spring or autumn. Mix the seeds with damp sand in a plastic bag. The sowing must be kept warm (about 20°C / 64 to 72°F and moist for the first 2-4 weeks. After this period place it in your refrigerator at a temperature of 5°C (between 25 and 39°F) for 5 to 6 weeks. After that take the bag out and keep it at room temperature. Check for sprouted seed regulary.
Cultivation---Belladonna herb and root are sold by analysis, the value depending upon the percentage of alkaloid contained. A wide variation occurs in the amount of alkaloid present. It is important, therefore, to grow the crop under such conditions of soil and temperature as are likely to develop the highest percentage of the active principle. In connexion with specimens of the wild plant, it is most difficult to trace the conditions which determine the variations, but it has been ascertained that a light, permeable and chalky soil is the most suitable for this crop. This, joined to a south-west aspect on the slope of a hill, gives specially good results as regards a high percentage of alkaloids. The limits of growth of Belladonna are between 50 degrees and 55 degrees N. Lat. and an altitude of 300 to 600 feet, though it may descend to sealevel where the soil is calcareous, especially where the drainage is good and the necessary amount of shade is found. The question of suitability of soil is especially important. Although the cultivated plant contains less alkaloid than that which grows wild, this in reality is only true of plants transported to a soil unsuited to them. It has been found, on the contrary, that artificial aids, such as the judicious selection of manure, the cleansing and preparation of the soil, destruction of weeds, etc., in accordance with the latest scientific practice, have improved the plants in every respect, not only in bulk, but even in percentage weight of alkaloidal contents.
Authorities differ on the question of manuring. Some English growers manure little if the plants are strong, but if the soil is really poor, or the plants are weak, the crop may be appreciably increased by the use of farmyard manure, or a mixture of nitrate of soda, basic slag and kainit. Excellent results have been obtained in experiments, by treating with basic slag, a soil already slightly manured and naturally suited to the plant, the percentage of total alkaloid in dry leaf and stem from third-year plants amounting to 0.84. In this case, the season was, however, an exceptionally favourable one, and, moreover, the soil being naturally suited to the plant, the percentage of alkaloid obtained without added fertilizer was already high. Speaking from the writer's own experience, Belladonna grows in her garden at Chalfont St. Peter. The soil is gravelly even stony in some parts, with a chalk subsoil - the conditions similar to those that the plant enjoys in its wild state. This neighbourhood, in her opinion, is a suitable one for growing fields of Belladonna as crops for medicinal purposes.
Notes and statistics taken from season to season, extending over nine years, have shown that atmospheric conditions have a marked influence on the alkaloidal contents of Belladonna, the highest percentage of alkaloid being yielded in plants grown in sunny and dry seasons. The highest percentage of alkaloid, viz. 0.68 per cent, was obtained from the Belladonna crop of 1912, a year in which the months May and June were unusually dry and sunny; the lowest, just half, 0.34 was obtained on the same ground in 1907, when the period May and June was particularly lacking in sunshine. In 1905, August and September proving a very wet season, specimens analysed showed the low percentages of 0.38 and 0.35, whereas in July and October, 1906, the intervening period being very fine and dry, specimens analysed in those months showed a percentage of 0.54 and 0.64 respectively.
There appears to be no marked variation in alkaloidal contents due to different stages of growth from June to September, except when the plant begins to fade, when there is rapid loss, hence the leaves may be gathered any time from June until the fading of the leaves and shoots set in.
In sowing Belladonna seed, 2 to 3 lb. should be reckoned to the acre. Autumn sown seeds do not always germinate, it is therefore more satisfactory to sow in boxes in a cool house, or frame, in early March, soaking the soil in the seed-boxes first, with boiling water, or baking it in an oven, to destroy the embryo of a small snail which is apt, as well as slugs and various insects, to attack the seedlings later. Pieces of chalk or lime can be placed among the drainage rubble at the bottom of the boxes. Belladonna seed is very slow in germinating, taking four to six weeks, or even longer, and as a rule not more than 70 per cent can be relied on to germinate. On account of the seeds being so prone to attack by insect pests, if sown in the open, the seed-beds should first be prepared carefully. First of all, rubbish should be burnt on the ground, the soil earthed up and fired all over, all sorts of burnt vegetable rubbish being worked in. Then thoroughly stir up the ground and leave it rough for a few days so that air and sun permeate it well. Then level and rake the bed fine and finally give it a thorough drenching with boiling water. Let it stand till dry and friable, add sharp grit sand on the surface, rake fine again and then sow the seed very thinly.
Considerable moisture is needed during germination. The seedlings should be ready for planting out in May, when there is no longer any fear of frost. They will then be about 1 1/2 inch high. Put them in after rain, or if the weather be dry, the ground should be well watered first, the seedlings puddled in and shaded from the sun with inverted flower-pots for several days. About 5,000 plants will be needed to the acre. If they are to remain where first planted, they may be planted 18 inches apart. A reserve of plants should be grown to fill in gaps.
The seedlings are liable to injury by late frosts and a light top dressing of farmyard manure or leaf-mould serves to preserve young shoots from injury during sudden and dangerous changes of temperature. They do best in shade. In America, difficulties in the cultivation of Belladonna have been overcome by interspersing plants with rows of scarlet runners, which, shading the herb, cause it to grow rapidly. Healthy young plants soon become re-established when transplanted, but require watering in dry weather. Great care must be taken to keep the crop clean from weeds and handpicking is to be recommended.
By September, the single stem will be 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet high. A gathering of leaves may then be made, if the plants are strong; 'leaves' include the broken-off tops of the plants, but the coarser stems are left on the plant and all discoloured portions rejected, and the plants should not be entirely denuded of leaves.
Before the approach of winter, plants must be thinned to 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart, or overcrowding will result in the second year, in which the plant will bear one or two strong stems.
The writer finds that the green tips and cuttings from side branches root well and easily in early summer, and that buds with a piece of the root attached can be taken off the bigger roots in April, this being a very successful way of rapid propagation to get big, strong plants.
In the second year, in June, the crop is cut a few inches above the ground, while flowering, and delivered to the wholesale buyer the same day it is cut.
The average crop of fresh herb in the second and third years is 5 to 6 tons per acre, and 5 tons of fresh leaves and tops yield 1 ton of dried herb. A second crop is obtained in September in good seasons.
The yield per acre in the first year of growth should average about 6 cwt. of dry leaves.
The greatest loss of plants is in wet winters. Young seedling plants unless protected by dead leaves during the winter often perish. On the lighter soils there is less danger from winter loss, but the plants are more liable to damage from drought in summer.
One of the principal insect pests that attack Belladonna leaves is the so-called 'fleabeetle.' It perforates the leaves to such an extent as to make them unfit for sale in a dried state. It is when the plants are exposed to too much sunlight in open spots that the attacks of the beetle are worst, its natural habitat being well-drained slopes, partly under trees. If therefore the ground around the plants is covered with a thick mulch of leaves, they are not so likely to be attacked. The caterpillars from which the beetles come feed on the ground, and as they dislike moisture, the damp leaves keep them away. If napthalene is scattered on the soil, the vapour will probably help to keep the beetles off. The only way to catch them is to spread greased sheets of paper below the plants, and whenever the plants are disturbed a number of beetles will jump off like fleas and be caught on the papers. This at best only lessens the total quantity, however, and the other methods of precaution are the best.
The plant is dug or ploughed up during the autumn in the fourth year and the root collected, washed and dried, 3 to 4 tons of fresh root yielding a little over 1 ton of dry root. In time of great scarcity, it would probably pay to dig the root in the third year.
Old roots must be replaced by a planting of young ones or offsets, and if wireworm is observed, soot should be dug in with replacements.
Although Belladonna is not a plant that can be successfully grown in every small garden, yet in a chalky garden a few plants might be grown in a shady corner for the sake of the seed, for which there is a demand for propagation. Those, also, who know the haunts of the plant in its wild state might profitably collect the ripe berries, which should then be put into thin cotton bags and the juice squeezed out in running water. When the water is no longer stained, wring the bag well and turn out the seeds on to blotting paper and dry in the sun, or in a warm room near a stove. Sieve them finally, when dry, to remove all portions of the berry skin, etc.
Belladonna has been successfully cultivated in the neighbourhood of Leningrad since 1914, and already good crops have been obtained, the richness of the stems in alkaloids being noteworthy. It is stated that in consequence of the success that has attended the cultivation of Belladonna in Russia, it will no longer be needful to employ German drugs in the preparation of certain alkaloids. Much is also being collected wild in the Caucasus and in the Crimea.
It is hoped that if sufficient stocks can be raised in Britain, not only will it be unnecessary to import Belladonna, but that it may be possible to export it to those of our Dominions where the climate and local conditions prevent its successful culture, though at present it is still included among the medicinal plants of which the exportation is forbidden.
This plant is a cold-germinator. The sowing must be kept cold for a period of some weeks (refrigerator) or you sow them in very early spring or autumn. Mix the seeds with damp sand in a plastic bag. The sowing must be kept warm (about 20°C / 64 to 72°F and moist for the first 2-4 weeks. After this period place it in your refrigerator at a temperature of 5°C (between 25 and 39°F) for 5 to 6 weeks. After that take the bag out and keep it at room temperature. Check for sprouted seed regulary.
Cultivation---Belladonna herb and root are sold by analysis, the value depending upon the percentage of alkaloid contained. A wide variation occurs in the amount of alkaloid present. It is important, therefore, to grow the crop under such conditions of soil and temperature as are likely to develop the highest percentage of the active principle. In connexion with specimens of the wild plant, it is most difficult to trace the conditions which determine the variations, but it has been ascertained that a light, permeable and chalky soil is the most suitable for this crop. This, joined to a south-west aspect on the slope of a hill, gives specially good results as regards a high percentage of alkaloids. The limits of growth of Belladonna are between 50 degrees and 55 degrees N. Lat. and an altitude of 300 to 600 feet, though it may descend to sealevel where the soil is calcareous, especially where the drainage is good and the necessary amount of shade is found. The question of suitability of soil is especially important. Although the cultivated plant contains less alkaloid than that which grows wild, this in reality is only true of plants transported to a soil unsuited to them. It has been found, on the contrary, that artificial aids, such as the judicious selection of manure, the cleansing and preparation of the soil, destruction of weeds, etc., in accordance with the latest scientific practice, have improved the plants in every respect, not only in bulk, but even in percentage weight of alkaloidal contents.
Authorities differ on the question of manuring. Some English growers manure little if the plants are strong, but if the soil is really poor, or the plants are weak, the crop may be appreciably increased by the use of farmyard manure, or a mixture of nitrate of soda, basic slag and kainit. Excellent results have been obtained in experiments, by treating with basic slag, a soil already slightly manured and naturally suited to the plant, the percentage of total alkaloid in dry leaf and stem from third-year plants amounting to 0.84. In this case, the season was, however, an exceptionally favourable one, and, moreover, the soil being naturally suited to the plant, the percentage of alkaloid obtained without added fertilizer was already high. Speaking from the writer's own experience, Belladonna grows in her garden at Chalfont St. Peter. The soil is gravelly even stony in some parts, with a chalk subsoil - the conditions similar to those that the plant enjoys in its wild state. This neighbourhood, in her opinion, is a suitable one for growing fields of Belladonna as crops for medicinal purposes.
Notes and statistics taken from season to season, extending over nine years, have shown that atmospheric conditions have a marked influence on the alkaloidal contents of Belladonna, the highest percentage of alkaloid being yielded in plants grown in sunny and dry seasons. The highest percentage of alkaloid, viz. 0.68 per cent, was obtained from the Belladonna crop of 1912, a year in which the months May and June were unusually dry and sunny; the lowest, just half, 0.34 was obtained on the same ground in 1907, when the period May and June was particularly lacking in sunshine. In 1905, August and September proving a very wet season, specimens analysed showed the low percentages of 0.38 and 0.35, whereas in July and October, 1906, the intervening period being very fine and dry, specimens analysed in those months showed a percentage of 0.54 and 0.64 respectively.
There appears to be no marked variation in alkaloidal contents due to different stages of growth from June to September, except when the plant begins to fade, when there is rapid loss, hence the leaves may be gathered any time from June until the fading of the leaves and shoots set in.
In sowing Belladonna seed, 2 to 3 lb. should be reckoned to the acre. Autumn sown seeds do not always germinate, it is therefore more satisfactory to sow in boxes in a cool house, or frame, in early March, soaking the soil in the seed-boxes first, with boiling water, or baking it in an oven, to destroy the embryo of a small snail which is apt, as well as slugs and various insects, to attack the seedlings later. Pieces of chalk or lime can be placed among the drainage rubble at the bottom of the boxes. Belladonna seed is very slow in germinating, taking four to six weeks, or even longer, and as a rule not more than 70 per cent can be relied on to germinate. On account of the seeds being so prone to attack by insect pests, if sown in the open, the seed-beds should first be prepared carefully. First of all, rubbish should be burnt on the ground, the soil earthed up and fired all over, all sorts of burnt vegetable rubbish being worked in. Then thoroughly stir up the ground and leave it rough for a few days so that air and sun permeate it well. Then level and rake the bed fine and finally give it a thorough drenching with boiling water. Let it stand till dry and friable, add sharp grit sand on the surface, rake fine again and then sow the seed very thinly.
Considerable moisture is needed during germination. The seedlings should be ready for planting out in May, when there is no longer any fear of frost. They will then be about 1 1/2 inch high. Put them in after rain, or if the weather be dry, the ground should be well watered first, the seedlings puddled in and shaded from the sun with inverted flower-pots for several days. About 5,000 plants will be needed to the acre. If they are to remain where first planted, they may be planted 18 inches apart. A reserve of plants should be grown to fill in gaps.
The seedlings are liable to injury by late frosts and a light top dressing of farmyard manure or leaf-mould serves to preserve young shoots from injury during sudden and dangerous changes of temperature. They do best in shade. In America, difficulties in the cultivation of Belladonna have been overcome by interspersing plants with rows of scarlet runners, which, shading the herb, cause it to grow rapidly. Healthy young plants soon become re-established when transplanted, but require watering in dry weather. Great care must be taken to keep the crop clean from weeds and handpicking is to be recommended.
By September, the single stem will be 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet high. A gathering of leaves may then be made, if the plants are strong; 'leaves' include the broken-off tops of the plants, but the coarser stems are left on the plant and all discoloured portions rejected, and the plants should not be entirely denuded of leaves.
Before the approach of winter, plants must be thinned to 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart, or overcrowding will result in the second year, in which the plant will bear one or two strong stems.
The writer finds that the green tips and cuttings from side branches root well and easily in early summer, and that buds with a piece of the root attached can be taken off the bigger roots in April, this being a very successful way of rapid propagation to get big, strong plants.
In the second year, in June, the crop is cut a few inches above the ground, while flowering, and delivered to the wholesale buyer the same day it is cut.
The average crop of fresh herb in the second and third years is 5 to 6 tons per acre, and 5 tons of fresh leaves and tops yield 1 ton of dried herb. A second crop is obtained in September in good seasons.
The yield per acre in the first year of growth should average about 6 cwt. of dry leaves.
The greatest loss of plants is in wet winters. Young seedling plants unless protected by dead leaves during the winter often perish. On the lighter soils there is less danger from winter loss, but the plants are more liable to damage from drought in summer.
One of the principal insect pests that attack Belladonna leaves is the so-called 'fleabeetle.' It perforates the leaves to such an extent as to make them unfit for sale in a dried state. It is when the plants are exposed to too much sunlight in open spots that the attacks of the beetle are worst, its natural habitat being well-drained slopes, partly under trees. If therefore the ground around the plants is covered with a thick mulch of leaves, they are not so likely to be attacked. The caterpillars from which the beetles come feed on the ground, and as they dislike moisture, the damp leaves keep them away. If napthalene is scattered on the soil, the vapour will probably help to keep the beetles off. The only way to catch them is to spread greased sheets of paper below the plants, and whenever the plants are disturbed a number of beetles will jump off like fleas and be caught on the papers. This at best only lessens the total quantity, however, and the other methods of precaution are the best.
The plant is dug or ploughed up during the autumn in the fourth year and the root collected, washed and dried, 3 to 4 tons of fresh root yielding a little over 1 ton of dry root. In time of great scarcity, it would probably pay to dig the root in the third year.
Old roots must be replaced by a planting of young ones or offsets, and if wireworm is observed, soot should be dug in with replacements.
Although Belladonna is not a plant that can be successfully grown in every small garden, yet in a chalky garden a few plants might be grown in a shady corner for the sake of the seed, for which there is a demand for propagation. Those, also, who know the haunts of the plant in its wild state might profitably collect the ripe berries, which should then be put into thin cotton bags and the juice squeezed out in running water. When the water is no longer stained, wring the bag well and turn out the seeds on to blotting paper and dry in the sun, or in a warm room near a stove. Sieve them finally, when dry, to remove all portions of the berry skin, etc.
Belladonna has been successfully cultivated in the neighbourhood of Leningrad since 1914, and already good crops have been obtained, the richness of the stems in alkaloids being noteworthy. It is stated that in consequence of the success that has attended the cultivation of Belladonna in Russia, it will no longer be needful to employ German drugs in the preparation of certain alkaloids. Much is also being collected wild in the Caucasus and in the Crimea.
It is hoped that if sufficient stocks can be raised in Britain, not only will it be unnecessary to import Belladonna, but that it may be possible to export it to those of our Dominions where the climate and local conditions prevent its successful culture, though at present it is still included among the medicinal plants of which the exportation is forbidden.
- The following note on the growth and cultivation of Belladonna is from the Chemist and Druggist, of February 26, 1921:
- 'Belladonna is a perennial, but for horticultural purposes it is treated as a biennial, or triennial plant. The root in 3 years has attained very large dimensions around Edinburgh; in fact, often so large as to make the lifting a very heavy, and therefore costly, matter, and in consequence 2 years' growth is quite sufficient. One-year-old roots are just as active as the three-year-old stocks, and to the grower it is merely a matter of expediency which crop he chooses to dig up. The aerial growth is very heavy, twoyear-old plants making 5 to 6 feet in the season if not cut for first crop, and if cut in July they make a second growth of 2 to 3 feet by September. To obtain a supply of seeds certain plantations must be left uncut, so as to get a crop of seeds for the next season. Moisture is, from a practical point of view, a very important matter. A sample, apparently dry to the touch, but not crisp, may have 15 per cent to 20 per cent of moisture present. Therefore if a pharmacist was to use a sample of such Belladonna leaves, although assayed to contain 0.03 per cent of alkaloids, he would produce a weaker tincture than if he had used leaves with, say, only 5 per cent of water present. The alkaloidal factor of this drug is the index to its value. Both the British and the United States Pharmacopoeias adopt the same standard of alkaloidal value for the leaves, but the British Pharmacopceia does not require a standard for the root, which is one of those subtle conundrums which this quaint book frequently presents! Plants grown in a hard climate, such as Scotland, give a good alkaloidal figure, which compares favourably with any others. For roots, the British Pharmacopoeia as just stated, requires no standard, but United States Pharmacopceia standard is 0.45 per cent, and Scottish roots yielded 0.78 per cent and 0.72 per cent. There is not a great deal of alkaloidal value in the stalks. About 0.08 in the autumn.
بلادونا از نام ایتالیایی می اید به معنی "بانوی زیبا"
این گیاه به شدت سمی بوده به خصوص برای کودکان خطرناک است
چون زیبا و کمی شیرین است.
بین دو تا پنج تا از میوه های ان میتواند یک کودک را بکشد
و 10 تا از ان برای مرگ یک بزرگسال کافیست.
ریشه این گیاه از همه بخشهای دیگر ان سمی تر است
در گذشته بر این باور بودند که جادوگران از مخلوط
این گیاه و گیاهانی مثل شقایق استفاده می کردند
تا بتوانند با جادوگران دیگر به پرواز در ایند
کارلو گینزبرگ و دیگران نظرات یکسانی
در این باره نداشتند و معتقد بودند
که این مخلوط شجاعت دیدن تصاویر خیالی را ایجاد می کند
این گیاه در زیر سایه درخت ، روی تپه های درختی
به زیبایی رشد می کند و به شکل بوته های چند متری می روید
اما در تابش مستقیم افتاب چندان بلند نمیشود
و بیشتر مورد حمله حشرات موذی قرار می گیرد
توضیح گیاه _
ریشه گیاه ضخیم است و کشیده در حدود 6 اینچ یا بیشتر طول ان است
و شاخه دار است شاخه ها و برگهای گیاه جدا از هم میماند.
برگها سبز تیره هستند و سایز خاصی دارند سه تا ده اینچ طول دارند
و برگهای پایین تر ضخیم تر هستند و به شکل بیضوی می رویند
در سال اول گیاه تنها یک تا یک و نیم فوت رشد
می کند برگها بزرگتر از برگهای یک گیاه کامل هستند
و در منطقه مرطوب به سرعت رشد می کنند.
گیاههای پیر تر بین سه تا 5 فوت ( قد انسان)می رسد
و گاهی حتی تا 6 فوت اما برگها از یک تا یک و نیم
متری زمین شروع به رویش می کننداین گیاه نرم است
گلها در ماه جون و جولای (خرداد و تیر)میرویند
و تا شهریور تیره و بنفش تیره می شودند
و به بزرگی یک اینچ میرسند
اویزان و زنگوله ای شکل هستند و در نهایت میوه ای
از خانواده توت بر جای می گذارند که به رنگ سیاه براق است
که هر میوه چند بذر دارد.میوه ها پر از مایع تیره شیرین هستند
که توجه بچه ها را به خود جلب می کنند
پرورش دهندگان این گیاه باید مراقب ان باشند و از نزدیک شدن
به ان جلوگیری کنندکه هیچکسی به ان نزدیک نشود .
توصیه می شود این گیاه را در باغ منزل نکارید
و همچنین در هیچ مکانی نزدیک به محل
عبور و خانه های مسکونی
در سپتامبر 1916 سه کودک به بیمارستانی
در لندن منتقل شدند در حالیکه به سم این گیاه الوده شده بودد.
باغبانی که گیاه را در معبر عمومی کاشته بو
د از سمی بودن ان اطلاعی نداشت .
در 1921 یک کودک به همین دلیل جان خود را از دست داد.
گفته می شود که اگر تصادفا میوه ان مورد استفاده قرار گرفت
باید هر چه زوترلیوان بزرگی از مایعی تهوع اور مثل سرکه گرم
و یا خردل با اب بلعیده شود
تا هر چه سریع تر میوه و سم ان بالا اورده شود
و به دنبال ان منیزیوم و قهوه بسیار قوی به بیمار خورانده شود.
بیمار را گرم نگه دارید و در صورت لزوم به بیمار تنفس مصنوعی بدهید .
اثر جانبی این سم این است که بیمار صدای خود
را به طور کامل از دست می دهد و انگشتها و دستهای
او شروع به لرزیدن می کندوچشمها بزرگ می شوند
طرز کاشت----
قیمت برگها و ریشه بلادونا بستگی به میزان قلیایی بودن ان دارد
و خاکی که این گیاه در ان کاشته می شود بسیار مهم است
خاک سبک و نفوذپذیر و گچی برای رشد این گیاه مناسب است
که در تپه ها بهترین نتیجه را در بر دارد چون قلیایی تر است
درجه حرارت مطلوب برای این گیاه 50 تا 55
درجه ( فارنهایت )اگر چه که گیاه کاشت
انسان خاک قلیایی کمتری نسبت به گونه وحشی ان دارد
اما تمیز نگهداشتن خاک ان از علفهای هرز بسیار مهم است
جوانه های حاصل از بذر بلادونا را می توان در جعبه در داخل
خانه با دمای خنک کاشت یا در نیمه مارچ ( فروردین ) می توان
انها را ابتدادر جعبه کاشت بذر بلادونا بسیار دیر جوانه می زند و
بین 4 تا 6 هفته ویا حتی بیشتر زمان می برد و بیش از
هفتاد درصد بذرها به بار نمی نشینند.به دلیل طولانی بودن
زمان به بار نشستن احتمال حمله افات به بذر گیاه وجود دارد
خاک را باید برای چند روز باز گذاشت و به ان هوا داد
و سپس با اب جوش به ان خاک اب بدهید و صبر کنید
تا خاک خشک شود و سپس روی ان ماسه بریزید
و سپس بذرها را به صورت لایه ای نازک روی ان بریزید
رطوبت در طول جوانه زدن گیاه ضروریست.
برای کاشت گیاه بهترین زمان ماه می است ( اخر اردیبهشت)
وقتی که هیچ نگرانی برای سرما و یخ زدن وجود ندارد
در این صورت جوانه ها بین یک تا یک و نیم اینچ میرسند
اما اگر هوا خشک باشد مرتب باید ابیاری ومرطوب
نگه داشته شودپس از جوانه زدن در محل اولیه در
ماه می می توان جوانه ها را جابجا کرد
و به محل اصلی منتقل نمود هر جوانه باید
به فاصله 18 اینچ از هم کاشته شود
تا گیاه جا برای رشد داشته باشد
در ماه شهریور هر ساقه به یک تا
یک و نیم فوت می رسد و برگها شروع به
نمایان شدن می کنند
قبل از رسیدن به زمستان گیاه باید هرس شود
این گیاه به شدت سمی بوده به خصوص برای کودکان خطرناک است
چون زیبا و کمی شیرین است.
بین دو تا پنج تا از میوه های ان میتواند یک کودک را بکشد
و 10 تا از ان برای مرگ یک بزرگسال کافیست.
ریشه این گیاه از همه بخشهای دیگر ان سمی تر است
در گذشته بر این باور بودند که جادوگران از مخلوط
این گیاه و گیاهانی مثل شقایق استفاده می کردند
تا بتوانند با جادوگران دیگر به پرواز در ایند
کارلو گینزبرگ و دیگران نظرات یکسانی
در این باره نداشتند و معتقد بودند
که این مخلوط شجاعت دیدن تصاویر خیالی را ایجاد می کند
این گیاه در زیر سایه درخت ، روی تپه های درختی
به زیبایی رشد می کند و به شکل بوته های چند متری می روید
اما در تابش مستقیم افتاب چندان بلند نمیشود
و بیشتر مورد حمله حشرات موذی قرار می گیرد
توضیح گیاه _
ریشه گیاه ضخیم است و کشیده در حدود 6 اینچ یا بیشتر طول ان است
و شاخه دار است شاخه ها و برگهای گیاه جدا از هم میماند.
برگها سبز تیره هستند و سایز خاصی دارند سه تا ده اینچ طول دارند
و برگهای پایین تر ضخیم تر هستند و به شکل بیضوی می رویند
در سال اول گیاه تنها یک تا یک و نیم فوت رشد
می کند برگها بزرگتر از برگهای یک گیاه کامل هستند
و در منطقه مرطوب به سرعت رشد می کنند.
گیاههای پیر تر بین سه تا 5 فوت ( قد انسان)می رسد
و گاهی حتی تا 6 فوت اما برگها از یک تا یک و نیم
متری زمین شروع به رویش می کننداین گیاه نرم است
گلها در ماه جون و جولای (خرداد و تیر)میرویند
و تا شهریور تیره و بنفش تیره می شودند
و به بزرگی یک اینچ میرسند
اویزان و زنگوله ای شکل هستند و در نهایت میوه ای
از خانواده توت بر جای می گذارند که به رنگ سیاه براق است
که هر میوه چند بذر دارد.میوه ها پر از مایع تیره شیرین هستند
که توجه بچه ها را به خود جلب می کنند
پرورش دهندگان این گیاه باید مراقب ان باشند و از نزدیک شدن
به ان جلوگیری کنندکه هیچکسی به ان نزدیک نشود .
توصیه می شود این گیاه را در باغ منزل نکارید
و همچنین در هیچ مکانی نزدیک به محل
عبور و خانه های مسکونی
در سپتامبر 1916 سه کودک به بیمارستانی
در لندن منتقل شدند در حالیکه به سم این گیاه الوده شده بودد.
باغبانی که گیاه را در معبر عمومی کاشته بو
د از سمی بودن ان اطلاعی نداشت .
در 1921 یک کودک به همین دلیل جان خود را از دست داد.
گفته می شود که اگر تصادفا میوه ان مورد استفاده قرار گرفت
باید هر چه زوترلیوان بزرگی از مایعی تهوع اور مثل سرکه گرم
و یا خردل با اب بلعیده شود
تا هر چه سریع تر میوه و سم ان بالا اورده شود
و به دنبال ان منیزیوم و قهوه بسیار قوی به بیمار خورانده شود.
بیمار را گرم نگه دارید و در صورت لزوم به بیمار تنفس مصنوعی بدهید .
اثر جانبی این سم این است که بیمار صدای خود
را به طور کامل از دست می دهد و انگشتها و دستهای
او شروع به لرزیدن می کندوچشمها بزرگ می شوند
طرز کاشت----
قیمت برگها و ریشه بلادونا بستگی به میزان قلیایی بودن ان دارد
و خاکی که این گیاه در ان کاشته می شود بسیار مهم است
خاک سبک و نفوذپذیر و گچی برای رشد این گیاه مناسب است
که در تپه ها بهترین نتیجه را در بر دارد چون قلیایی تر است
درجه حرارت مطلوب برای این گیاه 50 تا 55
درجه ( فارنهایت )اگر چه که گیاه کاشت
انسان خاک قلیایی کمتری نسبت به گونه وحشی ان دارد
اما تمیز نگهداشتن خاک ان از علفهای هرز بسیار مهم است
جوانه های حاصل از بذر بلادونا را می توان در جعبه در داخل
خانه با دمای خنک کاشت یا در نیمه مارچ ( فروردین ) می توان
انها را ابتدادر جعبه کاشت بذر بلادونا بسیار دیر جوانه می زند و
بین 4 تا 6 هفته ویا حتی بیشتر زمان می برد و بیش از
هفتاد درصد بذرها به بار نمی نشینند.به دلیل طولانی بودن
زمان به بار نشستن احتمال حمله افات به بذر گیاه وجود دارد
خاک را باید برای چند روز باز گذاشت و به ان هوا داد
و سپس با اب جوش به ان خاک اب بدهید و صبر کنید
تا خاک خشک شود و سپس روی ان ماسه بریزید
و سپس بذرها را به صورت لایه ای نازک روی ان بریزید
رطوبت در طول جوانه زدن گیاه ضروریست.
برای کاشت گیاه بهترین زمان ماه می است ( اخر اردیبهشت)
وقتی که هیچ نگرانی برای سرما و یخ زدن وجود ندارد
در این صورت جوانه ها بین یک تا یک و نیم اینچ میرسند
اما اگر هوا خشک باشد مرتب باید ابیاری ومرطوب
نگه داشته شودپس از جوانه زدن در محل اولیه در
ماه می می توان جوانه ها را جابجا کرد
و به محل اصلی منتقل نمود هر جوانه باید
به فاصله 18 اینچ از هم کاشته شود
تا گیاه جا برای رشد داشته باشد
در ماه شهریور هر ساقه به یک تا
یک و نیم فوت می رسد و برگها شروع به
نمایان شدن می کنند
قبل از رسیدن به زمستان گیاه باید هرس شود
بلادون با نام علمی آتروپا بلادونا كه به آن ، سایهی شب و توت شیطان هم میگویند، گیاهی فوقالعاده سمی است. بلادون قسمتی از عنوان علمی خود، آتروپا، را از یكی از سه الههی یونانی (آتروپوس، كلوتو ولاچسیس) گرفته است كه بنابر افسانههای یونانی بر سرنوشت انسان حاكم بودهاند. كلوتو و لاچسیس تار و پود انسان را میبافتهاند و عمر او را رقم میزدند. در حالی كه خواهر آنان، آتروپوس، در زمان مقدر شده رشتهی زندگی عمر آدم را قطع میكرده است. بلادونا احتمالا به افتخار بانوان ایتالیایی به عنوان این گیاه اضافه شده كه از عصارهی تازهی آن قطره چشمی میساختهاند و در چشم خود میریختند تا مردمك چشمانشان باز و شفاف شود و بیشتر مورد توجه قرار بگیرند .بر پایهی عقاید خرافی، در قرون وسطی جادوگران از این گیاه در جشنها برای ایجاد اوهام و خیالات استفاده میكرده و مخلوط بلادون و تاجالملوك را برای ایجاد احساس پرواز در انسان مصرف مینمودهاند. جان جرارد – جراح، گیاهشناس و پرورش دهنده گیاه قرن شانزدهم – بلادون را بسیار وحشناك و مرگآور توصیف كرده است. بنابر شرحی كه جرارد داده است هر كسی كه از این گیاه بخورد، بلافاصله به خوابی عمیق فرو میرود كه ممكن است هرگز بیدار نشود. گفته شده است كه سربازان پادشاه اسكاتلند در سال 1582 با شرابی كه از بلادون تهیه نموده بودند، همهی قوای دانمارك را در رختخوابشان به قتل رسانیدند .بلادون به سبب دارا بودن دو ماده شبه قلیایی (آلكالوئید) بلورین سمی، آتروپین و هیوسیامین، خاصیت تسكینی و تخدیری قوی دارد و بر روی دستگاه عصبی غیر ارادی تاثیر میگذارد. هنوز هم چشم پزشكان از آتروپین برای اتساع مردمك چشم استفاده میكنند. همچنین از آتروپین برای خنثی كردن اثر گازهای سمی منتشر شده توسط جنگافزارهای شیمیایی و از هیوسیامین نیز به عنوان مسكن استفاده میشود .عصارهی گیاه بلادون هم استفادههای پزشكی دارد و در درمان بیماریهایی كه سبب گرفتگی عضلات میشوند، مانند بیماریهای پاركینسون، صرع، آسم و سیاهسرفه به كار میرود. آتروپین ترشحات مخاطی را كنترل مینماید و میتواند در درمان سرماخوردگی و تب یونجه موثر باشد.بلادون را برای تسكین تب، تب مخملك، التهابات، سردردهای شدید و گلودرد تجویز می كنندزیستگاه طبیعی :گیاه بومی اروپا و جنوب غربی آسیا است و در ایالتهای شرقی آمریكا هم كاشته میشود. این گیاه در زمینهای شخم نخورده و بر روی تپههای جنگلی میروید و كمی سایه و خاك گچی یا آهكی برایش مناسب استمشخصات ظاهری :گیاه با دوامی است كه ساقهی آن به شخاههای متعدد تقسیم میشود و به
طول 25/1 متر میرسد و ریشهاش قطور و گوشتی میباشد. تمام قسمتهای گیاه تازه به هنگام كوبیده شدن، بوی نامطبوعی از خود متصاعد می كند كه به شدت سمی است. ساقه كمی بالاتر به سه یا چهار شاخه تقسیم میشود. برگها به رنگ سبز تیره به شكل بیضی هستند كه در نوك، تیز میشوند. و به صورت افقی و زوج، اما در اندازههای متفاوت، شاخهها را میپوشانند. گلهای به شكل زنگ آن در بالا به صورت تاج و به رنگ ارغوانی كه كمی رنگ سبز نیز به آنها زدهاند، میباشد كه از اواسط تا اواخر تابستان پدیدار شده و بعدا تبدیل به میوههای سیاه براق به اندازهی گیلاس كوچك میشوند. میوهی بلادون، آبی شیرین و مركبی دارد كه سمی كشنده است
گیاهی است پایا به ارتفاع 50-200 سانتیمتر با ریشه های منشعب ستبر. برگها به شکل بیضی با نوک تیز و کرکداراند. طول جام گلها تا 5/2 سانتیمتر می رسد و به شکل زنگوله هستند. رنگ سطح خارجی آن بنفش تیره و رنگ داخل آن زرد تیره مایل به قهوه ای است و رگه های بنفش رنگی دارد. میوه سته آن به اندازه یک گیلاس کوچک است که ابتدا سبز است و سپس سیاه می شود. عصاره این میوه بنفش است.
قسمت های مورد استفاده: ریشه و برگ.
زیستگاه و گردآوری:
در بیشه ها و مراتع روی خاک های آهکی در بیشتر قسمتهای اروپا و غرب آسیا می روید. بومی انگلستان و ویلز است اما نسبتا نادر است و بر روی گچ و سنگ آهک می روید. عموما به مقادیر تجارتی از طریق دانه یا قلمه ریشه آن در فواصل 60 × 60 سانتیمتری تکثیر می شود. در مدت 3 – 5 سال اول فقط برگها و جوانه های گیاه گلدار جمع آوری می شود. پس از 3 – 5 سال اول ریشه ها را هم می توان جمع کرد. در آفتاب یا در حرارت 60 درجه خشک می شود. بازده آن 10 – 25 گیلوگرم برگ خشک در هر 100 متر مربع است.
این گیاه در نواحی شمالی ایران مانند گیلان، طوالش، چالش و اسالم می روید.
ترکیبات و اثر:
برگ و ریشه شابیزک حاوی آلکالوییدهای بسیار سمی است که بیشتر آن هیوسیامین است. با مقادیر دارویی برای درمان قولنجهای روده ای و صفراوی به کار می رود. ترشحات غدد بزاقی و عرق را کاهش داده و مردمک را منبسط می کند. مقادیر زیاد آن سبب تهییج و به دنبال آن خواب آلودگی می شود و ممکن است کشنده باشد. میوه های آن نیز حاوی همین آلکالوییدها است. تمام بخشهای گیاه بی نهایت سمی است.
مصرف: باید تحت نظر پزشک فقط برای درمان اسهال عصبی و نیز یبوست، درمان
بی اختیاری ادرار و بیمارهای چشم مصرف شود
BELLADONNA (Atropa belladonna) is well known as a highly poisonous species capable of inducing various kinds of hallucinations. It entered into the folklore and mythology of virtually all European peoples, who feared its deadly power. It wos one of the ingredients of the truly hallucinogenic brews and ointments concocted by the so-called witches of medieval Europe. The attractive shiny berries of the plant still often cause it to be accidentally eaten, with resultant poisoning.
The name belladonna ("beautiful lady" in Italian) comes from a curious custom practiced by italian women of high society during medieval times. They would drop the sap of the plant into the eye to dilate the pupil enormously, inducing a kind of drunken or glassy stare, considered in that period to enhance feminine beauty and sensuality.
The main active principle in belladonna is the alkaloid hyoscyamine, but the more psychoactive scopolamine is also present. Atropine has also been found, but whether it is present in the living plant or is formed during extraction is not cleor. Belladonna is a commercial source of atropine, an alkaloid with a wide variety of uses in modern medicine, especially as an antispasmodic, an antisecretory, and as a mydriatic and cardiac stimulant. The alkaloids occur throughout the plant but are concentrated especially in the leaves and roots.
There are four species of Atropa distributed in Europe and from central Asia to the Himalayas. Atropa belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Belladonna is native to Europe and Asia Minor. Until the 19th century, commercial collection was primarily from wild sources, but since that time cultivation has been initiated in the United States, Europe, and India, where it is an important source of medicinal drugs
Therapy.—Internal. Belladonna is employed in Eclectic Therapeutics in doses which produce exactly the opposite effects from the gross or physiologic and toxic action. Large doses paralyze; small doses stimulate. While employed for its physiological effects in some instances, the chief use of the drug with us is in conditions showing impairment of the capillary circulation in any part of the body with congestion or tendency to blood stasis. The size of the dose is of great importance in administering belladonna. Ordinary drachm doses of a dilution of 5 to 10 drops of the specific medicine in four ounces of water meet conditions of dullness, hebetude, and congestion, as first pointed out by Scudder. Others claim that the use of infinitesimal doses, of the 3x dilution, acts promptly in conditions of nervous exaltation, with great irritability and impressionability of all the senses; in some cases the hyperaesthesia amounts to delirium and it is then claimed to be most efficient to control both mild and furious outbreaks of delirium. Others again (and this agrees with our personal experience) find marked pallor of the surface, with contracted pupils, the indication, for minute doses of the drug. Following a law which appears to be commonly borne out in therapeutics, that opposite effects are produced by large or by minute doses respectively, belladonna seems a possible therapeutic agent in many varied conditions. The cases, however, in which belladonna appears to have rendered the best service are in those in what might be called medium doses, as advised by Scudder, in which the drug is employed to overcome dullness, hebetude, expressionless countenance, tendency to congestion, dilated pupils, and a dusky redness effaced upon pressure, the blood slowly returning. For specific medication purposes the drug should not be given in doses sufficient to produce mydriasis. At the risk of repetition of some of the conditions and to make the belladonna picture more complete, we quote from a former article in the American Dispensatory (not the version that's online here, sorry. --HeK):
The first and great use for belladonna in specific doses is for congestion. It is a prompt remedy in throbbing congestive headache, or nervo-congestive headache; or a dull, heavy headache with a feeling of drowsiness, as if, were it not for the pain, the patient would drop off to sleep. When a dull, dusky or livid condition of the surface showing capillary feebleness and hebetude is threatened in typhoid fever or in pneumonia, belladonna is of the greatest importance as a stimulant, and in the latter assists in sustaining the respiratory function. While it is a remedy for blood-stasis in any part of the body, due to dilation of the capillaries, it is perhaps more pronounced in its effects when the impairment of the circulation takes place in the nerve centers. It is the first remedy to be used when there is cerebral or medullo-spinal congestion as evidenced by dullness and coma. Though oftenest demanded in acute diseases, it is of equal value in chronic cerebral disorders with dizziness, drowsiness, and dull heavy aching or fullness in the head. When the eye is dull and the pupil dilated, and drowsiness is marked, and there are other signs of congestion that may lead to engorgement of the brain, a threatened attack of apoplexy may be warded off by the timely use of small doses of belladonna.
Belladonna is a remedy for pain and for spasm. It sometimes relieves deep-seated pain, as in facial, intercostal, visceral and sciatic neuralgia. If there is an elevation of temperature, it should be associated with aconite if the circulation is much excited. It is better, however, to relieve spasmodic pain of the involuntary muscles of the tubular organs-spasm of the anus, uterine, cystic, urethral, and other visceral spasms. If any of the parts can be reached it is well to apply the drug locally at the time it is given internally, but care must be had not to overdose the patient. Its value in spasmodic dysmenorrhea, when otherwise specifically indicated, is unquestionably great.
Belladonna is conceded one of the best of our remedies for whooping cough. It will fail here unless otherwise specifically indicated. Spasmodic cough alone does not indicate it; there must be the tendency to congestion and the capillary impairment to make it act beneficially. No remedy, probably, cures pertussis, but many shorten its duration, lengthen the intervals between paroxysms, and render it less severe. Belladonna is one of the best for this purpose. When cough is purely nervous and when due to irritability of the tubular musculature it is an important drug. This is shown in its power to relieve nervous cough from laryngeal irritation and in spasmodic asthma.
Belladonna relaxes spasm. It sometimes overcomes constipation in this manner, has served fairly well in spasmodic constriction of the bowels, and has relieved both pain and spasm in lead colic and spasmodic intestinal colic. When epilepsy is associated with congestive symptoms it has assisted other remedies to lessen the severity and lengthen out the intervals of attack. The same is true in chorea. Little dependence can be placed upon it in puerperal convulsions, a condition for which it has been commended.
Few medicines act better in severe sore throat with redness, rawness, swelling, intense soreness, difficult swallowing, and dryness of the throat, with or without fever. Usually aconite is to be given with it. In such conditions it will promptly do good in tonsillitis, especially of the quinsy type, and in pharyngitis and faucitis. If there is an associated coryza it will relieve it, though it acts more promptly in acute coryza when the throat inflammation is absent and it can be given in slightly larger doses than are required for general specific purposes. Many maintain it valuable in diphtheria and believe that it interferes with the formation of the membranes. We question its value for that purpose, though it certainly helps to sustain the breathing and circulatory powers in a disease threatened from the very start with a depression of these functions. In acute inflammations, such as non-vesicular erysipelas, with deep redness of the skin, capillary impairment, and sense of burning, belladonna should be given with confidence. It acts best where the inflammation is very superficial and does not subsequently extend deeply into the subcutaneous tissues.
The value of belladonna in the exanthemata ranks with the most certain of therapeutic results. It is practically always indicated in scarlet fever and very frequently in measles. Chicken-pox does not so often demand it; while in the congestive stage of small-pox it is claimed to be a most certain aid for many therapeutic purposes. We rely upon it absolutely in scarlatina, and the more malignant the type the more it is indicated. We do not recall a case of scarlet fever in which we have not employed it, and always with the desired effect. Often no other agent has been required. Its use should be begun early. It then brings out the eruption, re-establishes the secretions of the kidneys and bowels, alleviates the distressing throat symptoms, and protects against congestion and subsequent nephritis. The dose must be small, however. If too large it favors congestion. Never more than teaspoonful doses of a dilution of 5 to 10 drops of the specific medicine in four ounces of water should be given every 1 or 2 hours. More often from 2 to 5 drops in the mixture are preferable. It serves much the same purpose in measles, and helps also to control the cough. After the eruption has appeared it is less often demanded in the latter disease, but in scarlet fever it may be needed from start to finish. When one observes the power of belladonna to arouse the patient from a stupid or drowsy state, or even from unconsciousness, or sees it quiet delirium, bring out the eruption, and incite the kidneys to natural action, the power of small doses of powerful medicines becomes convincing even to the most skeptical who believe only in near-toxic or physiological actions of drugs. The action of belladonna in scarlet fever is one of the strong arguments in favor of specific as compared to gross medication. To accomplish desired results without the least danger with a drug capable of great damage constitutes true or specific medication. Belladonna meets many of the complications attending or following scarlet fever, and is probably a preventive of many unpleasant sequelae. While especially a child's remedy it should be cautiously used. We have observed the scarlatinoid rash from very minute doses of belladonna.
Many physicians believe that minute doses of belladonna are prophylactic against scarlet fever. This view is shared by many good therapeutists, among them Scudder, Fyfe, Ellingwood, and many others. Perhaps it is a matter of faith, but we have never had reason to feel it an established fact. Whether true or not, we do believe, however, that an advantage will have been gained by its early administration should an attack of scarlatina ensue, and certainly it can do no harm if given in infinitesimal doses.
Belladonna stimulates and at the same time relieves the irritability of weakened conditions of the kidneys and bladder. Under its influence both watery and solid constituents are increased. It is the remedy for enuresis in small children when the fault depends upon poor pelvic circulation or chronic irritability of the bladder. It is best adapted to diurnal dribbling of urine. When due to a "cold," and there is marked pallor, and dullness of the eye so characteristic in children with enuresis, and the patient voids urine every quarter or half hour, belladonna is promptly helpful.
Belladonna is a remedy of power in acute congestion of the kidneys, and in the early or congestive stage of kidney disorders tending to chronicity. It is indicated by the sense of fullness, weight and dragging in the loins. In the early stage of tubular nephritis, and in scarlatinal nephritis, and in fact in renal capillary engorgement accompanying or following any disease, belladonna is a remedy of first importance.
It is one of the best of remedies for polyuria or so-called diabetes insipidus. A belladonna plaster should be applied while giving the remedy internally. Sometimes quite full doses are required to effect results. Full doses are also required to check the colliquative sweating of phthisis pulmonalis and other debilitating diseases, and its well-known quality of causing dryness of the mouth is taken advantage of in mercurial and other forms of salivation, especially the ptyalism of pregnancy.
Spermatorrhoea, with feeble pelvic and genital circulation, is sometimes better treated by belladonna than any other remedy. In such a state pulsatilla is a valuable aid to the belladonna.
Synonyms: Atropa belladonna, atropa belladonna-AE, beladona, belladone, belladonnae herbae pulvis standardisatus, belladonna herbum, Belladonna Homaccord, Belladonna Injeel, Belladonna Injeel Forte, belladonna leaf, belladonna pulvis normatus, belladonnae folium, belladonna radix, belladonne, deadly nightshade, deadly nightshade leaf, devil's cherries, devil's herb, die belladonna, die tollkirsche, divale, dwale, dwayberry, galnebaer, great morel, herba belladonna, hoja de belladonna, naughty man's cherries, poison black cherries, powdered belladonna, Solanaceae (family), solanum mortale, solanum somniferum, strygium, stryshon, tollekirsche, tollkirschenblatter
Belladonna is an herb that has been used for centuries for a variety of indications, including headache, menstrual symptoms, peptic ulcer disease, inflammation, and motion sickness. Belladonna is known to contain active agents with anticholinergic properties, such as the tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and hyoscyamine.
There are few available studies of belladonna alone for any indication. Most research has evaluated belladonna in combination with other agents, such as ergot alkaloids or barbiturates, or in homeopathic (diluted) preparations. Preliminary evidence suggests possible efficacy in combination with barbiturates for the management of symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome. However, there is currently insufficient scientific evidence regarding the use of belladonna for this or any other indication.
Common adverse effects include dry mouth, urinary retention, flushing, pupillary dilation, constipation, confusion, and delirium. Many of these effects may occur at therapeutic doses.
Belladonna (Atropa belladonna)
Be aware that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not strictly regulate herbs and dietary supplements. There is no guarantee of strength, purity or safety of products containing or claiming to contain belladonna. Decisions to use herbs or supplements should be carefully considered. Individuals using prescription drugs should discuss taking herbs or supplements with a pharmacist or health care professional before starting.The doses listed below are based on scientific research, publications or traditional use. Because most herbs and supplements have not been thoroughly studied or monitored, safety and effectiveness may not be proven. Brands may be made differently, with variable ingredients even within the same brand. Combination products often contain small amounts of each ingredient and may not be effective. Appropriate dosing should be discussed with a health care professional before starting therapy; always read the recommendations on a product's label. The dosing for unproven uses should be approached cautiously, because scientific information is limited in these areas.
For Treatment Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Adults (Aged 18 Or Older)
Studies in the 1960s and 1970s tested several doses of belladonna for irritable bowel syndrome. A studied dose is 10 milligrams of hyoscine butylbromide four times per day by mouth. Combination products containing 0.25 milligrams of belladonna (levorotatory alkaloids) and 50 milligrams of phenobarbital taken once per day by mouth have also been studied. Higher doses have been tested, but they cannot be recommended because toxicity occurred.
Traditional doses have included 50 milligrams to 100 milligrams of belladonna leaf powder, with a maximum daily dose of 600 milligrams (equivalent to 1.8 milligrams of total alkaloids calculated as hyoscyamine); 50 milligrams of belladonna root, with a maximum daily dose of 300 milligrams (equivalent to 1.5 milligrams of total alkaloids calculated as hyoscyamine); or 10 milligrams of belladonna extract, with a maximum daily dose of 150 milligrams (equivalent to 2.2 milligrams of total alkaloids calculated as hyoscyamine). Side effects or toxicity may occur at these doses.
Very dilute (homeopathic) preparations have also been used for numerous conditions; discuss this type of dosing with a health care professional or pharmacist.
Children (Younger Than 18)
The dosing and safety of belladonna have not been studied thoroughly in children. Use of belladonna is not recommended in this age group because of numerous reports of toxicity. Very dilute (homeopathic) preparations have been used in children; discuss this type of dosing with a health care professional or pharmacist.
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