Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), of the Solanaceae family. A stout, branching perennial to about 1.5 m, with dull purplish, bell-shaped flowers and shining black, cherry-like berries; native range: Europe, western Asia and North Africa, in woodland clearings on chalky soil. Globally recognized as luffah in Arabic, and belladonna, banewort, dwale in English. The part used is leaves and root. Leaves dull green, foetid when bruised; the berries sweetish and tempting to taste, yet deadly.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
DEADLY NIGHTSHADE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Deadly Nightshade
- Scientific name
- Atropa belladonna L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaves and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
- Western
- cold (Galenic: cold and dry, 4th degree — deadly)
- Unani
- cold, dry (4th degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nervous system · heart · stomach · intestines
- Unani
- nerves · brain · heart · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- narcotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, mydriatic, anticholinergic
- Unani
- mukhaddir (narcotic, stupefacient), musakkin-e-alam (analgesic), muzil-e-tashannuj (antispasmodic), mufattir-e-hadaqa (dilates the pupil)
Cautions
Contraindications: narrow-angle glaucoma, pregnancy and lactation, cardiac arrhythmia or tachycardia, prostatic enlargement with urinary retention, and in children and the elderly, who are especially sensitive to its anticholinergic action
Toxicity: all parts poisonous, the sweet berries especially so to children; overdose produces the classic anticholinergic syndrome — dilated pupils, dry mouth, flushed hot skin, rapid heartbeat, delirium and hallucination, coma and death
Interactions
- Western
- anticholinergics: additive anticholinergic effect, risking a toxic anticholinergic syndrome · cardiac glycosides: atropine's vagal blockade opposes and can mask glycoside-induced bradycardia · sedatives / CNS depressants: additive central depression and risk of delirium
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