Mandragora (Mandrake)

In the 15th century mandrake had a long association with magical practicies and mysticism. Some herbalists during that time represented mandrake plants as humans

Mandrake (Mandrake officinarum) as it really looks

Modified from the cover of Medical Botany. Lewis, Walter H. and Memory P.F. Elvin-Lewis. 1977. "Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man's Health" John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Canada

Modified from the cover of "The Fasinating World of the Nightshades". Heiser, Charles Jr. 1987. "The Fasinatinng World of the Nightshade: Tobacco, Mandrake, Potato, Tomato, Pepper, Eggplant, etc." W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco.

To return to the Solanceace cladogram