Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), of the Solanaceae family. Stemless perennial of a rosette of large leaves above a thick, often forked, taproot; native range: the Mediterranean region and western Asia. Globally recognized as yabruj-us-sanam (يبروج الصنم) in Arabic, and mandrake, European mandrake, Satan's apple in English. The part used is root. A stout pale taproot, often forked into a crude human shape, with a rank narcotic smell; bitter and acrid, numbing the mouth — a deadly poison, not to be tasted.
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.
MANDRAKE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- mandrake
- Scientific name
- Mandragora officinarum L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
- Unani
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
Western: cold (and dry)
Unani: cold (3rd degree, and dry)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses converge — an intensely cold, dry, deadening narcotic in each
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nervous system · nerves
- Unani
- brain · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- narcotic, anodyne, soporific and anaesthetic, antispasmodic and mydriatic, through the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine
- Unani
- muraqqid (soporific), mukhaddir (anaesthetic and narcotic), musakkin-e-alam (anodyne) and munawwim (sleep-inducing)
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy, glaucoma, cardiac and prostatic disease; a deliriant poison in more than minute dose
Toxicity: highly poisonous; the tropane alkaloids cause delirium, tachycardia, dilated pupils, hyperthermia, coma and death
Interactions
- Western
- anticholinergics: additive anticholinergic toxicity from the tropane alkaloids · sedatives / CNS depressants: additive central nervous system depression and sedation
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.