Mandragora officinarum

Mandragora officinarum or mandrake is the type species of the plant genus Mandragora. As of 2015, sources differ significantly in the species they use for Mandragora plants native to the Mediterranean region. In the narrowest circumscription, M. officinarum is limited to small areas of northern Italy and the coast of former Yugoslavia, and the main species found around the Mediterranean is called Mandragora autumnalis, the autumn mandrake. In a broader circumscription, all the plants native to the countries around the Mediterranean Sea are placed in M. officinarum, which thus includes M. autumnalis. The names autumn mandrake and Mediterranean mandrake are then used. 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 orange berries.

Because mandrakes contain deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with a variety of superstitious practices throughout history. They have long been used in magic rituals, today also in contemporary pagan traditions such as Wicca and Odinism. However, the so-called “mandrakes” used in this way are not always species of Mandragora let alone Mandragora officinarum; for example, Bryonia alba, the English mandrake, is explicitly mentioned in some sources.

As of 2015, Mandragora officinarum has three or four different circumscriptions (see 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 to Mediterranean region. Thus defined, Mandragora officinarum is a very variable perennial herbaceous 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.

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Author: Wikipedia

Keywords: Mandrake, mandrake root, ginseng, love plant, fertility, fertility drug

Bible reference(s): Genesis 30:14-16, Song of Solomon 7:13

Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Mandragora officinarum,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

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