Plan to sow more than you think you’ll need, as germination rates are sometimes low.įresh seeds should be sown as soon as possible, ideally outdoors. If you’re starting with dried seeds, soak them in water for a day or two prior to cold stratification and sowing. The process of sowing seeds will depend in part on whether you have fresh or dried seeds available.
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These plants are simple to propagate from seed with just a little patience and their preferred setup.īe sure to wear gloves to protect your skin when handling these plants. Thanks to devoted cultivators, you may find seeds available for sale. Potted starts aren’t commonly available at nurseries. The quickest way to grow a new plant is by propagating root cuttings, though they might be hard to come by. The Bonnefont herb garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Cloisters in New York City also features mandrake among their medieval plantings. It was also known historically as an aphrodisiac and herbal ally for fertility.Įditorial credit: Jiri Vondrous / Traditional medicinal applications include promoting sleep and relieving pain.
Highly skilled and experienced practitioners meticulously use powerful and potentially deadly plant constituents in natural remedies, but medicinal use of mandrake today is rare. Mandrake has a long and rich history of use in herbal medicine and various esoteric supernatural practices.Īnd upon pulling a mandrake root from the ground, it was once said that unless you covered your ears, the shrieks unleashed by the powerful rhizome could drive whoever was so bold to pull it up mad, or even kill them. The latter species is also sometimes referred to as false mandrake. Mandragora species should not be confused with American mandrake, also known as mayapple ( Podophyllum peltatum), or English mandrake ( Bryonia alba). caulescens was first described by British botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1883.Īn accepted species recognized today, several subspecies have been described with purportedly unique characteristics, but taxonomists now consider these specimens to actually be Himalayan mandrake species plants. caulescens, commonly known as Himalayan mandrake, is native to the Himalayas, namely in regions of southwest China and Myanmar. officinarum, perhaps a local variety or subspecies with slightly different characteristics unique to this geographic location. turcomanica, or Turkmenian mandrake, is native to the Kopet Dag Mountains in Iran and is considered rare – some taxonomists will tell you this is also M. Two additional species you may come across are M.
Of course, the question remains: how many species of Mandragora are there? Many botanists have differed in their opinions over the years, and you’ll find a long list of outdated synonyms throughout various guidebooks and reference materials. The scent of the berries is often strong, and said to be pleasant.Īfter fruiting in summer, plants go dormant and reemerge in winter, putting on new growth. The fruits they produce in summer start out green and turn a yellow to orangish color as they mature and ripen. The large, green, oval-shaped or elongated, wrinkled leaves grow low to the ground in a rosette that may spread to two feet in diameter, with a height of about one foot.Ĭlusters of alluring upright flowers on short stems bloom in spring, with five petals each in shades of purple. The most striking feature is a forked taproot which may be said to resemble the human body in its form, with a head and torso, and branching arms and legs. Aside from producing these toxins, all species of mandrake share similar traits.
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