# Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)

**Mandragora*; Greek *mandragoras*; Hebrew *dudaim**

**Known today as.** *Mandragora officinarum* and its relatives, of the nightshade family.

Kind: Plant  
Qualities: Cold in the third degree (Galen); authorities differ on its moisture.  
Poisoning: Tropane (anticholinergic) poisoning (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/anticholinergic)  
Toxic: yes

> **Caution.** Poisonous: tropane alkaloids cause delirium, fever, heart disturbance, and death.

## What does modern science say?

Contains the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which account for its sedative, anesthetic, and deliriant effects. Gravely poisonous.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **hyoscyamine**: 
- **scopolamine**: 
- **atropine**: the racemate of hyoscyamine

**Mechanism.** The tropanes block the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors: dry, hot, dilated, delirious.

**Dose.** The alkaloid content of the root varies tenfold; a few grams can cause delirium, and deaths are recorded.

**Standing.** No medicinal use. Scopolamine itself is a licensed drug for motion sickness and the secretions of the dying.

## What lore surrounds it?

Its forked, manlike root made it the most storied plant of the Middle Ages: it was said to shriek when uprooted and to grow beneath the gallows. Roots were carved and dressed as household spirits, the German *Alraune*, and Machiavelli made it the title of his comedy *La Mandragola* (see [Machiavelli](https://thethinkingpress.org/inspirations/niccolo-machiavelli)).

## What did the older authorities say?

**Genesis 30.** Rachel trades a night with Jacob to Leah for the mandrakes Reuben found in the field.

**Theophrastus.** Records the rites of gathering: draw three circles round it with a sword, and cut facing the west.

**Dioscorides.** Gives a wine of the root to bring sleep and to deaden pain before cutting or burning in surgery.

**Josephus.** Tells of a root, *baaras*, that kills whoever pulls it, and is drawn up by tying a dog to it.

## Sources

- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Theophrastus, *Enquiry into Plants*.
- Flavius Josephus, *The Jewish War*.
- Genesis 30:14–16.
- Nelson, L. S., et al. (2007). *Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants*.

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*Mandrake.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/mandrake

Historical description, not medical advice.