deadly nightshade
Deadly nightsahde is a plant and an herb.
botanical information:
Botanical name: Solanum spp.
Common name: deadly nightshade
origin:
Origin: Deadly nightsahde is native to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia and has become naturalized in parts of North America.
magickal correspondences and uses:
Magickal uses: Used in medieval flying ointments (symptoms of deadly nightshade poisoning include vivid hallucinations and a sense of flying).
cautions and contraindications:
Cautions and contraindications: Deadly nightshade is one of the most toxic plants in the Western hemisphere. A few berries or a leaf can kill. The root is the most toxic part. The toxin is tropane alkaloids. Symptoms of deadly nightshade poisoning are the same as for atropine and include dilated pupils, tachycardia, hallucinations, blurred vision, loss of balance, feeling of flight, staggering, a sense of suffocation, paleness followed by red rash, flushing, husky voice, extreme dry throat, constipation, urinary retention, confusion, and death. The antidote is physostigmine or pilocarpine. Deadly nightshade can kill pets and livestock.
Toxic to animals: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Animal Poison Control Center has determined that deadly nightshade “has been reported as having systemic effects on animals and/or intense effects on the gastrointestinal tract.” —ASPCA
Some herbs may be poisonious under some conditions. Exercise appropriate care.
Wild gathering: Avoid wild gathering. Some plants are endangered species. Some plants can be toxic just by touch. Even experts can make deadly misidentifications of wild plants. Please grow your own herbs in your own goddess garden (or window boxes).
See also: herbs, nightshade, and black nightshade.
