In small doses it was employed by the Ancients in maniacal cases.Ī tincture is used in homoeopathy to-day, made from the fresh plant.Īmong the old Anglo-Saxon herbals both Mandrake and periwinkle are endowed with mysterious powers against demoniacal possession. Mandrake was used in Pliny's days as an anaesthetic for operations, a piece of the root being given to the patient to chew before undergoing the operation. The root finely scraped into a pulp and mixed with brandy was said to be efficacious in chronic rheumatism. They mostly employed the bark of the root, either expressing the juice or infusing it in wine or water. They used it for procuring rest and sleep in continued pain, also in melancholy, convulsions, rheumatic pains and scrofulous tumours. In large doses it is said to excite delirium and madness. Mandrake was much used by the Ancients, who considered it an anodyne and soporific. The dried bark of the root was used also as a rough emetic. The fresh root operates very powerfully as an emetic and purgative. Boiled in milk and used as a poultice, they were employed by Boerhaave as an application to indolent ulcers. Medicinal Action and Uses-The leaves are quite harmless and cooling, and have been used for ointments and other external application.
#REAL MANDRAKE ROOT FULL#
They are succeeded by a smooth, round fruit, about as large as a small apple, of a deep yellow colour when ripe, full of pulp and with a strong, apple-like scent. They are somewhat of the shape and size of a primrose, the corolla bell-shaped, cut into five spreading segments, of a whitish colour, somewhat tinged with purple. From among these leaves spring the flowers, each on a separate foot-stalk, 3 or 4 inches high. They are sharp pointed at the apex and of a foetid odour.
#REAL MANDRAKE ROOT FULL SIZE#
Immediately from the crown of the root arise several large, dark-green leaves, which at first stand erect, but when grown to full size a foot or more in length and 4 or 5 inches in width - spread open and lie upon the ground. Description-It has a large, brown root, somewhat like a parsnip, running 3 or 4 feet deep into the ground, sometimes single and sometimes divided into two or three branches. The name Mandragora is derived from two Greek words implying 'hurtful to cattle.
![real mandrake root real mandrake root](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xAyLn3b_0cU/maxresdefault.jpg)
It was cultivated in England in 1562 by Turner, the author of the Niewe Herball. Habitat-The Mandrake, the object of so many strange superstitions, is a native of Southern Europe and the Levant, but will grow here in gardens if given a warm situation, though otherwise it may not survive severe winters.