Latin/Scientific name – Atropa Belladonna.
Common name – Belladonna/Deadly Nightshade

—————————————————————————

Deadly Nightshade is a perennial Herbaceous plant in the solanaceae family, this means it lives for more than 2 years (Perennial), and is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level (Herbaceous). The Solanacea is a family of flowering plants, sometimes referred to as the nightshade family, this family of plants includes Datura (Jimson weed), tobacco, tomato, eggplant, petunia, mandrake, potato, capsicum (paprika, chili pepper) along with deadly nightshade.

Deadly nightshade is native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. The plant is incredibly toxic if ingested, containing tropane alkaloids. These toxins include scopolamine and hyoscyamine which cause a bizarre delirium and hallucinations. The drug Atropine is derived from the plant. This includes any part of the plant and does not only apply to the berries.

The genus name “atropa” comes from Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology, the name “atropa bella donna” is derived from an admonition in Italian and Greek meaning “do not betray a beautiful lady”.

Deadly nightshade is a rough herb with a thick root. It has branched stems which will grow from 2 to 5 feet tall. Its leaves are large and ovate in shape and are typically 18cm long. Its solitary flowers are one inch long with five blunt points and are a dull purple colour. The berry is purple to black coloured.