Mandragora

genus of plants, the mandrakes

OverviewAI-generated

Mandragora, commonly known as mandrake, is a genus of plants within the family Solanaceae. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae, phylum Tracheophyta, class Magnoliopsida, and order Solanales. The scientific name is Mandragora L.

Records of this taxon have been documented in the United States, Greece, Tunisie, Morocco, and Sicile. Specimens are held by institutions including MO, MNHN, UPS, and BRIT. The genus has been described in sources such as the Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus and the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Mandragora

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderSolanales
FamilySolanaceae

Native toAlgeria, Assam, Baleares, China South-Central, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Greece, Iran, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria

Observations recorded5,500

Dieser Artikel behandelt die biologische Gattung der Alraunen, für die kulturgeschichtlichen bzw. mythologischen Aspekte der Alraune siehe unter Alraune (Kulturgeschichte). Die Alraunen (Mandragora) sind eine Pflanzengattung in der Familie der Nachtschattengewächse (Solanaceae). Von den drei Arten kommt eine in Europa vor. Die Gemeine Alraune (Mandragora officinarum) wird vor allem durch ihre Kulturgeschichte oftmals als Ritual- und Zauberpflanze angesehen. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Beschreibung 1.1 Vegetative Merkmale 1.2 Blüten 1.3 Früchte und Samen 2 Verbreitung 3 Systematik 4 Verwendung und Inhaltsstoffe 5 Siehe auch 6 Literatur 7 Einzelnachweise 8 Weblinks Beschreibung Habitus und Blüten der Gemeinen Alraune (Mandragora officinarum) Früchte der Gemeinen Alraune (Mandragora officinarum) Vegetative Merkmale Alraunen-Arten sind mehrjährige krautige Pflanzen. Sie sondern gelegentlich einen üblen Geruch ab. Sie sind stängellos und bilden eine Blattrosette, deren Durchmesser bis zu 1,5 m betragen kann. Die fleischigen, dicken Pfahlwurzeln der Alraunen werden meist bis zu 20 cm lang, sind oftmals gegabelt und sind dadurch nicht selten einer menschlichen Gestalt ähnlich.[1] Die einfachen L

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 30
With media: 22
Family: Solanaceae
Collections: MO, MNHN, UPS, BRIT
Recorded in: United States, Greece, Tunisie, Morocco, Sicile, Espagne, Orient, India

iDigBio →

Research

86 papers

Mandragora autumnalis Distribution, Phytochemical Characteristics, and Pharmacological Bioactivities.ReviewPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Albahri G, Badran A, Baki ZA et al.DOI: 10.3390/ph18030328
Mandragora.The Hospital · 1889
Mandrake (mandragora root).Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2005Emery AE
A Comprehensive Review on the Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of the Mandragora Genus; from Folk Medicine to Modern Medicine.ReviewCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2021Monadi T, Azadbakht M, Ahmadi A et al.DOI: 10.2174/1381612827666210203143445
Substances isolated from Mandragora species.ReviewPhytochemistry · 2005Hanus LO, Rezanka T, Spízek J et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2005.07.016
[Mandragora].Casopis lekaru ceskych · 1988Palivec V
Special article: mandragora: anesthetic of the ancients.ReviewAnesthesia and analgesia · 2012Chidiac EJ, Kaddoum RN, Fuleihan SFDOI: 10.1213/ANE.0b013e318259ee4d
The Legend of the Mandragora.Annals of medical history · 1917

via PubMed

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Mandragora is a plant genus belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Members of the genus are known as mandrakes. Between three and five species are placed in the genus. The one or two species found around the Mediterranean constitute the mandrake of ancient writers such as Dioscorides. Two or three further species are found eastwards into China. All are perennial herbaceous plants, with large tap roots and leaves in the form of a rosette. Individual flowers are bell-shaped, whitish through to violet, and followed by yellow or orange berries.

Like many members of the Solanaceae, species of Mandragora contain highly biologically active alkaloids that make the plants poisonous. Their roots in particular have a long use in traditional medicine. Mandrakes are involved in many myths and superstitions.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mandragora” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.