Belladonna. In Italian it translates to “beautiful lady.” But even in Italy, belladonna is more than a beautiful word or description. It is dangerous; deadly. In fact, most people probably know it as deadly nightshade. A plant so toxic, it is known as the plant most used throughout history for stealth assassination.
Deadly nightshade, also known as Atropa belladonna, or even just belladonna, is a medium sized shrub with dark green leaves and purple bell-shaped flowers. It’s a beautiful looking plant, growing up to 5 feet tall; its leaves can grow as big as 7 inches long. The distinct purple flowers have a light fragrance, and it grows berries that start out green, but then ripen to a shiny black.
The berries themselves are sweet, and often eaten by animals, despite their toxicity. In fact, there are several animals that are immune to its ill effects, such as cattle, horses, rabbits, goats, and sheep.
Dangers from the plant vary based upon the part ingested. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids, which are known to cause numerous health related issues, such as cardiac disorders, disorientation, depressive activity, and even euphoric states. The roots contain up to 1.3% tropane alkaloids, while the leaves contain 1.2%, the stalks .65%, flowers .6%, ripened berries .7% and the seeds .4%.
The foliage and berries are extremely toxic, with the berries posing the greatest risk, due to their attractive appearance and sweet taste. Symptoms of poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, severe dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, loss of balance, headache, rash, urinary retention, constipation, and tachycardia. It can also cause confusion, delirium, hallucinations and convulsions.
The symptoms of the poisoning are caused by the disruption of the parasympathetic nervous system. This system is a network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger. Disruption of this system can cause a person to constantly be in a state of elevated stress responses. It would impact the body’s ability to control such things like digestion or even bladder control.
Side effects of consuming deadly nightshade can also disrupt the body’s ability to control/regulate involuntary activities, such as breathing and heart rate. Inability to control the heart rate can lead to cardiovascular failure.
Deadly nightshade also has anticholinergic properties. These can cause the disruption of cognitive capabilities, impairing both memory and learning. This is also where the confusion, delirium and hallucinations come from.
In animals, it can cause narcosis and paralysis.
What you might not expect from such a toxic plant/poison, is its use in medicine and cosmetics. The name, Atropa belladonna, describes both its negative and positive effects. The poisonous properties come from Atropa, one of the Three Fates in Greek mythology. Atropa is said to have cut a person’s thread of life after her sisters had spun and measured it. And as mentioned before, belladonna, Italian for beautiful lady, because of its use for cosmetic purposes.
During the Renaissance, women would use the juice from the deadly nightshade berries in eyedrops. This caused dilation of the pupils, making their eyes appear more seductive. It is known that even Cleopatra used Atropine extracts (though from a different plant) for this purpose.
Today, we know better. Use of deadly nightshade can cause minor visual distortions including the inability to focus on close objects. Repeated or prolonged usage could cause one to lose their eyesight altogether.
Also interesting is the use of deadly nightshade in medicine. It has been used since the 4th century BC to treat ailments such as gout, sleeplessness. It was even used in a love potion.
Today, in the United States, deadly nightshade is marketed (as an atropine ingredient) as a dietary supplement in over-the-counter cold medicine. By FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines, there are no regulated manufacturing standards for cold medicines containing atropine, and there is very little scientific evidence to indicate any form of effectiveness.
In the early 20th century, it was used in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
Donnatal, a prescription pharmaceutical, contains natural deadly nightshade alkaloids with phenobarbital. This is used to provide peripheral anticholinergic or antispasmodic action and mild sedation. According to the FDA it can be used in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome as well as acute enterocolitis. Despite this, Donnatal has not been approved by the FDA as being safe or effective.
According to the FDA, while Donnatal has its specified uses, it also comes with great risks, such as heat prostration, constipation, drowsiness, and poses significant risk to unborn babies when taken by pregnant women.
And, as you might suspect, deadly nightshade has been used in homeopathic remedies for centuries. It’s been used as a pain reliever, muscle relaxer, and anti-inflammatory. It’s been used to treat menstrual problems and even motion sickness.
Then there is its recreational use. As mentioned before, deadly nightshade can cause hallucinations and delirium. Effects can last for as little as three to four hours, while the vivid hallucinations can last for three to four days. The effects have been described as similar to those experienced from cocaine use.
The most well known use of deadly nightshade is as a poison. In early times, poisonous arrows were made from the plant. It was used as a poison by powerful women in Ancient Rome to kill their husbands. For example, Agrippina the Younger, the wife of Emperor Claudius.
Macbeth of Scotland used it to poison troops of the invading Harold Harefoot, King of England. This caused the English to retreat to their ships.
For today’s generation, deadly nightshade was used by Georgia Miller (Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia) to poison her former husband, causing him to have a heart attack.
Deadly nightshade is rarely grown in gardens; germination of the small seeds is often difficult. Its cultivation is legal in Southern and Eastern Europe, Pakistan, North America, and Brazil. In Germany, the leaves and roots of the plant can be purchased with a medical prescription.
Fortunately for anyone who happens to consume deadly nightshade, there is an antidote. Any anticholinesterase or cholinomimetic, such as Reminyl (galantamine), Aricept (donepezil), Neostigmine (neostigmine), Mestinon (pyridostigmine), Elexon (rivastigmine) will work.
Still looking for poison? How about another popular one, cyanide?
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