[CH] More on poisonous Solanaceae
Kristofer Blennow (kristofer@blennow.se)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:10:09 +0100
Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) - Solanaceae Atropa Belladonna
(Contains atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine)
Jerusalem Cherry - Solanum Pseudocapsicum
(Hmmm... note that name...)
... and, ewwww, read this:
http://entheogen.com/datura/yerba.diablo.html
The daturas are members of the botanical family Solanaceae which also
contains such common foods as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers,
and tobacco [Schultes and Raffauf 1990]. Many solanaceous plants
contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine (hyoscine), atropine,
and others. Besides the daturas, the most infamous solanaceous plants
are the so-called hexing herbs used in medieval witchcraft. These
include Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), Mandrake (Mandragora
officinarum), and Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), all of which were used
as poisons and as constituents of "flying ointments" which reportedly
allowed witches to travel to the Sabbat and commune with the horned
god [Harner 1973].
Better stay off this topic now,
Kristofer