2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Belladonna is one of the plants of the family called Solanaceae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Atropa belladonna L. As for the name of the family of belladonna itself, in Latin it will be like this: Solanaceae Juss.
Belladonna description
Belladonna is a perennial herb, endowed with a multi-headed rhizome and rather numerous thick branched roots. The stems of this plant will be branched, juicy and thick, they are present in a single number or several, the height of such stems will be about one or two meters. Belladonna leaves are thick and pointed, in shape they can be either ovoid-oblong or ovoid, and these leaves are painted in dark green tones. The lower leaves of this plant are arranged singly, while the upper leaves will be arranged in pairs, with the larger leaves interspersed with the smaller ones. Larger leaves will be present in an amount of about fifteen to twenty pieces. The flowers of this plant will be drooping and solitary, they are axillary and are located on glandular-pubescent pedicels. The corolla of this plant is painted in a dirty purple tones, and such a corolla is also endowed with purple sap. The belladonna fruit is a shiny, multi-seeded berry colored in purple-black tones.
Under natural conditions, this plant is found in the Crimea, the Caucasus and the Carpathians. It is noteworthy that belladonna will be cultivated in many countries of Europe, America and Asia. For growth, the plant prefers edges, clearings and mountain forests. It should be remembered that this plant is highly poisonous, for this reason, extreme caution is required when using any belladonna-based products.
Description of the medicinal properties of belladonna
Belladonna is endowed with very valuable medicinal properties, while it is recommended to use the roots and herbs of this plant for medicinal purposes. The grass should be harvested throughout the entire flowering period of this plant, as well as at the very beginning of fruiting. Such medicinal raw materials should be dried immediately after collection in the air in the shade or under a canopy. Belladonna roots should be collected from plants that are already two years old: this should be done in the fall. It is noteworthy that all parts of this plant contain the alkaloid hyoscyamine.
It should be noted that the main alkaloids will be levorotatory atropine, which will pass into racemate when excreted. In this case, hyoscyamine will have a more intense effect than atropine. In addition, the alkaloid scopolamine will also be contained in small quantities. The leaves and roots of this plant contain tannins and the coumarin derivative scopoletin, while the leaves will also contain flavonoids.
The alkaloids of this plant are endowed with antispasmodic and analgesic effects, and also have the ability to improve and enhance the activity of the heart. In addition, such alkaloids will regulate the tone of the gastrointestinal tract, dilate the bronchi and pupil, increase intraocular pressure, regulate the tone of the bile and urinary tract, and besides this, they will also suppress the secretion of the glandular apparatus to a very large extent.
Preparations based on this plant are recommended for use in stomach ulcers, spastic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, bronchial asthma, gastritis with high acidity, cholelithiasis and kidney stones, vasoneurosis, vegetative dystonia and in the treatment of patients with parkinsonism.
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Amaryllis Belladonna
Amaryllis belladonna is a flower that originates from South and Central America and has also been seen to be found in the Caribbean. This flower is a monotypic genus, in other words, only one plant species is included in this genus. Amaryllis belladonna should be classified as a perennial plant that is most often found in the plains of both the tropics and subtropics.
