Atropa belladonna | Deadly Nightshade

Introduction

Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is a tall, leafy perennial of woodland edges and waste ground, with dull purple-brown bell flowers and glossy black berries, and a reputation as one of the most poisonous plants in Europe. Every part of it is toxic, and a handful of its sweet-tasting berries can be fatal. Its other name, belladonna—”beautiful lady”—comes from a very different use: drops made from the plant were once used to widen the pupils of the eyes.

Taxonomy

Atropa belladonna is a member of the family Solanaceae, the nightshades, which also includes the potato, tomato, tobacco, and henbane. It is named after Atropos, the fate in Greek myth who cut the thread of life. As a green plant it makes its own food by Photosynthesis, and the sugars it builds in its large leaves fund the production of the alkaloids that make it so dangerous—chemical defences manufactured from ordinary plant metabolism.

Physical Characteristics

The plant grows from a thick, fleshy rootstock into a bushy, branching herb one to two metres tall. The leaves are large, oval, pointed, and entire, up to eighteen centimetres long, in dull dark green, and are often borne in uneven pairs of one large and one small leaf. The flowers hang singly from the leaf axils: bell-shaped, two to three centimetres long, dull purple tinged with green, appearing from June to September. The fruit is a glossy black berry about one and a half centimetres across, sitting in a green star-shaped calyx and containing many small seeds in dark purple juice.

Habitat

Deadly nightshade grows in woodland clearings and edges, on chalk and limestone soils, in hedgerows, on banks, quarries, and waste ground, usually in partial shade. It is native to Europe, north Africa, and western Asia and has been introduced elsewhere. In Britain it is local and mostly southern, favouring disturbed, calcareous ground in and around woodland, and it often appears where scrub has been cleared.

Diet

It is an autotroph, feeding through photosynthesis in its broad leaves, which are well placed to use the dappled light of woodland edges. Its roots take up water and minerals from calcareous soils, and the plant invests much of what it makes into alkaloid defences rather than into fast growth. It has no carnivorous or parasitic habit: the poisons it produces are for deterring things that would eat it, not for feeding on them.

Reproduction

The nodding bell-shaped flowers are pollinated mainly by bees, which visit for pollen and nectar and push past the stamens to reach it. Each fertilised flower develops into a shiny black berry, and the seeds inside are spread by birds, which can eat the fruit with impunity and pass the seeds elsewhere. The plant also persists and spreads slowly from its woody rootstock, and established clumps can live for many years.

Conservation

The species is not globally threatened, though it is local and scarce in parts of its range and is protected in some regions. Because it is so poisonous it is often removed from places where children or livestock might reach it, and it has largely vanished from the hedgerows where it was once common. It remains secure in suitable woodland-edge habitat and is not a conservation priority.

Fun Facts

• Its name Atropa comes from Atropos, the Greek fate who cut the thread of life.
• “Belladonna” means beautiful lady: the plant’s extract was used to dilate the pupils for cosmetic effect.
• The berries are sweet-tasting, which is exactly why they are so dangerous to children.
• Birds can eat the berries safely and spread the seeds in their droppings.
• The main toxin, atropine, is still used in medicine to speed the heart and dilate the eyes.