“Belladonna… Extract of: This preparation is made strictly according to the official method, but is standardised to contain 1 per cent of total alkaloid.”

H.S. Wellcome, Medicine in Ancient Erin, 1880

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Cover art is ‘Belladonna’ by unknown artist and public domain

Belladonna or Atropa belladonna is also called deadly nightshade, dwale, divale, banewort, black cherry, death’s herb, devil’s cherries, fair lady, great morel, naughty man’s cherries, sorcerer berry and witch’s berry. It’s called lus mór coille in Gaeilge and lus na h-oidhche marbhtach or an deagha in Scots Gaelic. The name Atropa is derived from the Greek goddess Atropos, which means ‘inflexible or implacable’. She was the oldest of the three Greek fates that determined her people’s lives, weaving threads that symbolize birth, important events and ultimately, in Atropo’s case, death. The name belladonna is simply Italian for ‘beautiful lady’. The plant itself may have been used in small amounts in tinctures to dilate the pupils and therefore make women look more attractive in the middle ages.¹ 

Belladonna is surely one of the most well known toxic plants in the world and for good reason. The berries are renowned to look attractive to children and occasionally be mistaken for blueberries or another edible dark berry plant. This is one plant that I particularly love to look at when in bloom. The flowers are simply exquisite and a rare beauty. Of course, I do keep my distance from an herbal perspective and while I don’t desire to have it planted in my own garden, I can appreciate why many people do. Belladonna is nearly inseparable and synonymous with witchcraft and therefore likely linked with the Druids of old as well. 

Dioscorides recommended belladonna for sleep when taken as an infusion with wine (only a tsp.). He also recommended it to treat tooth pain and generalized pain as well as to rub on the eyes to improve sight. This was no doubt a result of the plant’s ability to again, dilate the eyes. He mentioned that some people called the plant halicacabum, ‘bad poison’. In Ireland, it was used externally to burn off warts² and to treat swellings³. In England, it was also used externally to treat ulcers and swellings.⁴ 

Witches were famously said to rub the plant on their pulse points and thighs and take magical ‘flying’ journeys, sometimes to recover information and use it as a means of divination. This translated to much superstition and witches literally being claimed to fly on their broomsticks when using their ointments that included this famous herb and various other poisonous plants such as aconite. From a logistical perspective, in lower doses that one could survive, aconite still causes heart palpitations and belladonna produces delirium and hallucinations so this experience could mimic the sensation of flying. Witches or possibly druids, may have been interpreted (while lying deathly still on the ground) as exiting their body and legitimately flying in the Otherworld. Belladonna is also rumored to have been added to spiritually charged ‘initiation-wines’ for initiates into various cults and spiritual groups in ancient Greece and Gaul. 

One of the most gripping facts about this plant was that it was commonly employed in the classical era all the way through the Medieval period to poison and murder various politicians and leaders. In fact, Persia and Rome were so obsessed with poisonings that they employed professional poisoners. In one of the most famous examples described by Tacitus, Agrippina, the wife of Roman Emperor Claudius hired a poisoner named Locusta. She had her husband as well as his son from his former wife murdered so that her son, Nero could become the next emperor. Locusta’s favorite poison was said to be none other than, our lady belladonna. There is very little doubt that the druids wouldn’t have been knowledgeable about this plant just given its vast and well known reputation. 

It’s in the family Solanaceae and native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia but has been introduced to North and South America as well as Australia by way of ‘deadly’ plant gardens. In some geographical regions, it has been considered to have become naturalized. Belladonna has smooth wide leaves with pronounced leaf veins and bell shaped flowers that are a dull purple with very dark purple (almost black) berries. The flowers typically bloom throughout the summer and it may have been associated with Bealtaine or the Summer Solstice. It’s a perennial in zones 7 through 10, grows up to 2 m or 7 ft and does well in part to full sun, and well drained soil. Belladonna is not recommended today medicinally as the dosages and recipes have been lost and it is considered severely poisonous to ingest or use. It can cause intense hallucinations for days at a time, as well as serious psychiatric disorders, physical ailments (particularly concerning the heart) and death. This article was written solely for informational purposes.

References

1. Lehnet, Ernst. Folklore & odysseys of food & medicinal plants. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1973. Pg. 102.

2. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0578, Page 280

3. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0404, Page 482

4. Culpeper, Nicolas. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. Pg. 253. 

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