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Atropa bella-donna has a long history of use as a medicine, cosmetic, and poison. [11] [6] [12] Known originally under various folk names (such as "deadly nightshade" in English), the plant was named Atropa bella-donna by Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) when he devised his classification system.
Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade family within the genus Solanum, such as the potato (Solanum tuberosum).It can occur naturally in any part of the plant, including the leaves, fruit, and tubers.
deadly nightshade, belladonna, devil's cherry, dwale Solanaceae: One of the most toxic plants found in the Western Hemisphere, all parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids [61] – as do those of its equally deadly sister species A. baetica, A. pallidiflora and A. acuminata.
The name “nightshades” comes in part from the infamous Belladonna plant, also known as the “deadly nightshade,” because it carries a highly toxic alkaloid called atropine, used ...
The aptly named deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), for instance, is so toxic it was used as a murder weapon during the Middle Ages. Its berries, however, could be mistaken for blueberries.
Atropine-rich extracts from the Egyptian henbane plant (another nightshade) were used by Cleopatra in the last century B.C. to dilate the pupils of her eyes, in the hope that she would appear more alluring. Likewise in the Renaissance, women used the juice of the berries of the nightshade Atropa belladonna to enlarge their pupils for cosmetic ...
The best-known member of the genus Atropa is deadly nightshade (A. belladonna) – the poisonous plant par excellence in the minds of many. [8] The pharmacologically active ingredients of Atropa species include atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine, all tropane alkaloids having anticholinergic, deliriant, antispasmodic and mydriatic properties.
Wasson speculated the poison used to kill Claudius was derived from death caps, with a fatal dose of an unknown poison (possibly a variety of nightshade) being administered later during his illness. [12] [116] Other historians have speculated that Claudius may have died of natural causes.