Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant.
Before the Middle Ages, it was used as an anaesthetic for surgery; the ancient Romans used it as a poison (the wife of Emperor Augustus and the wife of Claudius both were rumoured to have used it for murder); and, predating this, it was used to make poison-tipped arrows: nothing tame about this plant!
The name “bella donna” is derived from Italian and means “beautiful woman” because the herb was used in eye-drops by women to dilate the pupils of the eyes to make them appear seductive.
Sweet belladonna
Dilated pupils conceal
Your deadly nightshade
Copyright 2017- Vivian Zems
Daily post : Tame
October 10, 2017 at 2:05 pm
I like this little bit of history nice share very interesting
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October 10, 2017 at 6:22 pm
Thanks, Cory!
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October 10, 2017 at 3:48 pm
I always wanted to know what belladonna looked like as it was mentioned in so many mystery novels. Kinda of surprised it looks a bit like a pudgy short eggplant. Poor thing. No wonder it has a complex and goes around poisoning historical personages.
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October 10, 2017 at 6:22 pm
Now you know!😊
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