MANDRAGORA AUTUMNALIS. The fruits are mildly poisonous but the root is the stuff of legend. The forked root looks like a devilish person, and it was believed that it would shriek when pulled from the ground – its screams killing anyone who heard it.
SERVING SATAN’S APPLE PIE.
MAKING A BLACK HENBANE TINCTURE
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER. Also known as Black Henbane, or Hog’s Bean. Full of alkaloids, some have been known to faint just by being in the presence of this plant. In olden times, it was used as anesthesia for surgical patients. The lucky ones woke up without having felt a thing. The unlucky ones suffered the long term side-effect of death.
MANDRAGORA OFFICINALIS. also known as Satan’s Apple, or Mandrake. Atropine, hyoscamine, and scopolamine are laced all throughout this plant. All of these chemicals slow down the nervous system and can induce coma. This is the potion that Juliet drank to “look like death” as she waited for Romeo.
ATROPA BELLADONNA. In 1915, Professor Henry G. Walters believed the deadly nightshade was filled with hatred. Like poison ivy, but angrier, just touching this plant can result in pustules. All parts of the plant are filled with the alkaloid, atropine. It causes seizures, irregular heartbeats, and hallucinations. The berries are sweet, and eating 4 or 5 is enough to kill you.
MAKING THORN APPLE TEA
NICOTIANA TABACUM. Nicotine is a natural insecticide. It protects the plant and we use it in commercial insecticides to protect other plants. Snacking on a raw leaf would bring on stomach cramps, sweating, breathing irregularities, weakness, seizures, and death.
Lady Of The Moth. Also known as Jimson Weed. The flowers are fragrant and bloom in the evening, but the rest of the plant is stinky enough that most animals avoid eating it.
Lady Of The Moon. Datura Stramonium. Also known as Thorn Apple. All parts of this plant contain tropane alkaloids that can disrupt the autonomic nervous system. This leads to respiratory failure, seizure, coma, and death. Making tea with the leaves can result in hallucinations that last for days.
EGYPTIAN HENBANE. The plant has a long history with witchcraft. A tincture applied to the skin can induce powerful hallucinations along with the feeling of flying. The dosage can result in death or health. The seeds are still used today in medicine to treat respiratory disorders, motion sickness, and Parkinson’s disease.
Death by Nightshade
The most natural and beautiful things can kill you.
For centuries, those in the know have used plants to poison their enemies.
Beyond poison, the plants in the Solencae family, commonly known as nightshades, have been harvested for their agricultural and medicinal powers, as well as for witchcraft and spiritual rituals.
In this collection of paintings, I’ve focused on the blooms of these nightshades. Their innocuous beauty belies their toxicity. While creating each painting, I thought of how it was used historically, and how I could possibly harness the powers of these plants in modern times.
In the end, the plants look harmless. Any of these flowers would be proud to live in a vase on your kitchen table – perhaps as a handy ingredient to have on hand for guests who have overstayed their welcome.
Medium
acrylic paint on wood panel
Category
Painting