Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

“Hexing Herbs” in Ethnobotanical Perspective: A Historical Review of the Uses of Anticholinergic Solanaceae Plants in Europe

  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Though not the most frequently used botanical family, the Solanaceae or nightshade family has provided many plants of great importance around the world. Throughout Europe, the “hexing herbs,” plants from this family with anticholinergic alkaloids, have played an especially important role in the history and formation of traditions pertaining to plant use in many aspects of human life. Represented in Europe by the genera Atropa, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Mandragora, and Scopolia, the alkaloids hyoscyamine/atropine and scopolamine in these plants have allowed them to be used as medicines, poisons, and intoxicants, leading to the creation of a large mythos and extensive cultural valuation. Through a review of the literature, the exact roles that these “hexing herbs” have played in Europe in the past and present are discussed in this paper, ultimately showing the immense importance of these often misunderstood and vilified plants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamse, P. and H. P. van Egmond. 2010. Tropane alkaloids in food. Wageningen: Institute of Food Safety RIKILT (1207272001). http://edepot.wur.nl/160741 (29 April 2019).

  • Aikman, J. 1827. The history of Scotland, translated from the Latin of George Buchanan; with notes and a continuation to the union in the reign of Queen Anne, Vol. I. Glasgow: Blackie, Fullarton, &. Co.

  • Apuleius. 1998. The golden ass, or, metamorphoses. Trans. E. J. Kenney. London: Penguin Books.

  • Arroo, R. R. J., J. G. Woolley, and K. M. Oksman–Caldentey. 2007. Tropane alkaloid containing plants – Henbane, Belladonna, Datura, and Duboisia. In: Transgenic crops VI, Section II: Medicinal crops, biotechnology in agriculture and forestry, Vol. 61, eds., T. Nagata, H. Lörz, and J. M. Widholm, 2–20. Berlin: Springer–Verlag.

  • Aulakh, G. S. and T. Mukerjee. 1984. Plants associated with witchcraft and evil eye. Ancient Science of Life 4(1):58–60.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Begum, S., B. Saxena, M. Goyal, R. Ranjan, V. B. Joshi, C. V. Rao, S. Krishnamurthy, and M. Sahai. 2010. Study of anti–inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of seeds of Hyoscyamus niger and isolation of a new coumarinolignan. Fitoterapia 81(3):178–184.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernáth, J. 1999. Biological and economical aspects of utilisation and exploitation of wild growing medicinal plants in Middle and South Europe. In: Biological resources, sustainable use, conservation, and ethnobotany, eds., N. Caffini, J. Bernath, L. Cracker, A. Jatisatienr, and G. Giberti, 31–41. Leuven, Belgium: Acta Horticulturae.

  • Bethel, R. G. 1978. Abuse of asthma cigarettes. BMJ 2(6142):959.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bever, E. 2008. Witch dances and witch salves. In: The realities of witchcraft and popular magic in early modern Europe, ed., E. Bever, 93–150. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

  • Bifulco, M., M. Amato, G. Gangemi, M. Marasco, M. Caggiano, A. Amato, and S. Pisanti. 2016. Dental care and dentistry practice in the Medieval Medical School of Salerno. British Dental Journal 221(2):1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bingen, H. Van. 2001. Physica: Of various natural creatures, the first book concerning plants. Trans. B. Hozeski. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, A. and L. Lagarce. 2010. Comite de Coordination de Toxicovigilance, “Medications” working group. Datura Stramonium: Potential d’abus et de Dépendance. http://www.centres-antipoison.net/CCTV/Rapport_CCTV_Datura_Stramonium_V6_2010.pdf. (29 April 2019).

  • Boyd, J. W., D. S. Murray, and R. J. Tyrl. 1984. Silverleaf nightshade, Solarium elaeagnifolium, origin, distribution, and relation to man. Economic Botany 38(2):210–217.

  • Campbell, E. A. 2007. Don’t say it with nightshades: Sentimental botany and the natural history of Atropa belladonna. Victorian Literature and Culture 35(02):607–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlini, E. A. and L. O. Maia. 2017. Plant and fungal hallucinogens as toxic and therapeutic agents. In: Plant Toxins, eds., P. Gopalakrishnakone, C. R. Carlini, and R. Ligabue–Braun, 37–80. Amsterdam: Springer Netherlands.

  • Carruthers, D. M. J. 2015. Lines of flight of the deadly nightshade: An enquiry into the properties of the magical plant, its literature and history. Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 48(2):119–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, A. J. 1996. Narcosis and nightshade. BMJ (Clinical Research Edition) 313(7072):1630–1632.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cavallo, P., M. C. Proto, C. Patruno, A. Del Sorbo, and M. Bifulco. 2008. The first cosmetic treatise of history. A female point of view. International Journal of Cosmetic Science 30:79–86.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Celsus. 1938. De medicina. Trans. W. Spencer. London: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cilenšek, M. 1892. Naše Škodljive Rastline v Podobi in Besedi. Klagenfurt, Austria: Družba sv. Mohorja v Celovcu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cilliers, L. and F. P. Retief. 2000. Poisons, poisoning and the drug trade in Ancient Rome. Akroterion 45(0):88–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clifton, C. S. 2001. If witches no longer fly: Today’s pagans and the solanaceous plants. The Pomegranate 16:17–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockayne, O. 1865. Leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of early England. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., C. Berny, S. Meyran, A. Mialon, and M. Manchon. 2003. Intoxication volontaire par une tisane de feuilles de Datura. Annales de Toxicologie Analytique 15(4):287–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colombo, M. L., F. Assisi, T. D. Puppa, P. Moro, F. M. Sesana, M. Bissoli, R. Borghini, S. Perego, G. Galasso, E. Banfi, and F. Davanzo. 2010. Most commonly plant exposures and intoxications from outdoor toxic plants. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research 2(7):417–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, F. S. 1931. Slovene folklore. Folklore 42(4):405–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corner, G. W. 1937. On early Salernitan surgery and especially the ‘Bamburg Surgery’: With an account of a previously undescribed manuscript of Bamburg Surgery in the possession of Dr. Harvey Cushing. Bulletin of the Institute of the History of Medicine 5(1):1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Čvorović, J. 2013. Serbian gypsy witch narratives: Wherever gypsies go, there the witches are, we know! Folklore (United Kingdom) 124(2):214–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daunay, M., H. Laterrot, and J. Janick. 2008. Iconography of the Solanaceae from antiquity to the XVIIth century: A rich source of information on genetic diversity and uses. Acta Horticulturae 745:59–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, M. K. and A. Hollman. 2002. Atropa belladonna. BMJ (Heart) 88:215.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Day, J. 2013. Botany meets archaeology: People and plants in the past. Journal of Experimental Botany 64(18):5805–5816.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Debnath, T. and R. Chakraverty. 2017. Newer insights into the pharmacological activities of Datura stramonium Linn.: A review. Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 7(9): 441–444.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dierbach, J. H. 1833. Flora Mythologica: Oder Pflanzenkunde in Bezug Auf Mythologie Und Symbolik Der Griechen Und Römer. Frankfurt: Johann David Sauerländer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dioscorides. 2000. De Materia Medica. Trans. T. A. Osbaldeston and R. Wood. Johannesburg: Ibdis Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, M. E. 1992. Medical and neuropsychiatric aspects of lycanthropy. Journal of Medical Humanities 13(1):5–15.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dyckman, J. 1818. The American edition of the Edinburgh new dispensatory, enlarged and adapted to the Materia Medica of the United States. New York: James Eastburn and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eamon, W. 1980. Botanical empiricism in late Medieval technical writings. Studies in the Classical Tradition 3:237–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egmond, F. 2016. The garden of nature: Visualising botanical research in northern and southern Europe in the sixteenth Century. In: From art to science. Experiencing nature in the European garden, 1500–1700, ed., J. Ferdinand, 18–33. Treviso, Italy: ZeL Edizioni.

  • Eleni, A., P. K. Papadokostakis, I. G. Tsiligianni, C. D. Lionis, T. K. Vasilopoulos, and G. K. Arseni. 2009. A two cases clinical report of Mandragora poisoning in primary care in Crete, Greece: Two Case Report. Cases Journal 2(1):1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elpel, T. J. 2018. Botany in a day: The patterns method of plant identification, 6.1. Pony, Montana: HOPS Press, LLC.

  • Fabbri, C. N. 2007. Treating medieval plague: The wonderful virtues of theriac. Early Science and Medicine 12(3):247–283.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fabre, A. 2003. Mythologie et plantes médicinales de l’antiquité. Histoire des Sciences Médicales 31(1):65–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Facchini, P. J. 2001. Alkaloid biosynthesis in plants: Biochemistry, cell biology, molecular regulation, and metabolic engineering applications. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 52:29–66.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fatur, K. 2019. Sagas of the Solanaceae: Speculative ethnobotanical perspectives on the Norse berserkers. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 244: 112151. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2019.112151.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Festi, F. 1996. Scopolia carniolica Jacq. Eleusis 5(34):34–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, J., C. Rauber–Lüthy, H. Kupferschmidt, J. Kupper, G. A. Kullak–Ublick, and A. Ceschi. 2011. Acute plant poisoning: Analysis of clinical features and circumstances of exposure. Clinical Toxicology 49(7):671–680.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fühner, H. 1925. Solanazeen Als Berauschungsmittel Eine Historisch–Ethnologische Studie. Naunyn–Schmiedebergs Archiv für experimentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie 111:281–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furbee, B. and M. Wermuth. 1997. Life–threatening plant poisoning. Critical Care Clinics 13(4):849–888.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gadd, P. A. 2007. Förhållandena I Övre Satakunta I Mitten Av 1700–Talet. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadzikowska, M. and G. Grynkiewicz. 2002. Tropane alkaloids in pharmaceutical and phytochemical analysis. Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica – Drug Research 59(2):149–160.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Géza, K. 1990. A Nadragulya (Atropa belladonna L.) Babonás Felhasználása Máramarosban. Honismeret 18(4):58–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorun, G., G. C. Curcǎ, S. Hostiuc, and O. Buda. 2011. ‘Legal Highs’ in Romania: Historical and present facts. Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine 19(1):73–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowdy, J. M. 1972. Stramonium intoxication: Review of symptomatology in 212 Cases. JAMA 221(6):585–587.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guarino, C., L. De Simone, and S. Santoro. 2008. Ethnobotanical study of the Sannio Area, Campania, Southern Italy. Ethnobotany Research & Applications 6:255–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gubernatis, A. De. 1882. La Mythologie des Plantes Ou Les Légendes Du Règne Végétal, Volume 2. Paris: Reinwald.

  • Guiley, R. E. 1989. The encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft, and wicca. New York: Facts on File.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunda, B. 1967. Fish poisoning in the Carpathian Area and in the Balkan Peninsula. Kroeber Anthropological Society Special Publications 1:1–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, J. H. 2004. Hallucinogens and dissociative agents naturally growing in the United States. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 102(2):131–138.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, H. A. 1978. The witch’s garden. Oakland, California: Unity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harf–lancner, L. 1985. La Métamorphose Illusoire: Des Théories Chrétiennes de La Métamorphose Aux Images Médiévales Du Loup–Garou. Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations 1:208–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harner, M. J. 1973. The role of hallucinogenic plants in European witchcraft. In: Hallucinogens and shamanism, ed., M. J. Harner, 125–150. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

  • Harper–Leatherman, A. S. and J. R. Miecznikowski. 2012. O true apothecary: How forensic science helps solve a classic crime. Journal of Chemical Education 89(5):629–635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. R. 1916. The origin of the cult of Aphrodite. London: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmeier, S. H. and J. Steurer. 1996. Mydriasis, Tachycardia. Praxis 85(15):495–498.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatsis, T. 2015. The witches’ ointment: The secret history of psychedelic magic. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatziisaak, T. and A. Weber. 1998. Scopolica carniolica Jacq. Tea. Praxis 87(49):1705–1708.

  • Heindl, S., C. Binder, H. Desel, U. Matthies, I. Lojewski, B. Bandelow, G. F. Kahl, and J. M. Chemnitius. 2000. Ätiologisch Zunächst Unklare Verwirrtheit Und Exzitation Im Verlauf Einer Tollkirschenvergiftung Mit Suizidaler Absicht. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 125(45):1361–1365.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heizer, R. F. 1953. Aboriginal fish poisons. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 151(38):225–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henningsen, G. 2009. The witches’ flying and the Spanish inquisitors, or how to explain (away) the impossible. Folklore 120(1):57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman, D. 2015. Drugs, suppositories, and cult worship in antiquity. In: History of toxicology and environmental health: Toxicology in antiquity, Vol. II, ed., P. Wexler, 60–67. London: Elsevier.

  • Hocking, G. M. 1947. Henbane–healing herb of Hercules and of Apollo. Economic Botany 1(3):306–316.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horstmanshoff, M. 1999. Ancient medicine between hope and fear: Medicament, magic and poison in the Roman Empire. European Review 7(1):37–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, A. J. and D. O’Hagan. 2001. Tropane alkaloid biosynthesis. A century old problem unresolved. Natural Product Reports 18(5):494–502.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ivancheva, S. and B. Stantcheva. 2000. Ethnobotanical inventory of medicinal plants in Bulgaria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 69:165–172.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, B. P. 1979. Mandragora–taxonomy and chemistry of the European species. In: The biology and taxonomy of the Solanaceae, eds., J. G. Hawkes, R. N. Lester, and A. D. Skelding, 505–512. London: Academic Press.

  • Jackson, M. 2010. ‘Divine Stramonium’: The rise and fall of smoking for asthma. Medical History 54(2):171–194.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jarić, S., M. Mitrović, B. Karadžić, O. Kostić, L. Djurjević, M. Pavlović, and P. Pavlović. 2014. Plant resources used in Serbian medieval medicine. Ethnobotany and Ethnomedicine. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 61(7):1359–1379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jouzier, É. 2005. Solanacées Médicinales et Philatélie. Bulletin de la Société de pharmacie de Bordeaux 144:311–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowska, W., C. Wagner, E. M. Moore, A. Matkowski, and S. Komarnytsky. 2018. Botanical provenance of traditional medicines from Carpathian Mountains at the Ukrainian–Polish border. Frontiers in Pharmacology 9:295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2018.00295.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, H. 1995. Literature on archeological remains of cultivated plants (1992/1993). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 4(1):51–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kromar, J. 1979. Strupene Rastline. Ljubljana: Založba borec.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacković, Z. 2017. ‘Bunanje’: XX century abuse of Atropa belladonna hallucinogenic berries in continental Croatia. Psychiatria Danubina 29(3):379–382.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lakušić, D., M. Rat, G. Anačkov, and S. Jovanović. 2017. Datura inoxia Mill. (Solanaceae), a new alien species in Serbia. Biologica Nyssana 8(1):47–51.

  • Lee, M. R. 2007. Solanaceae IV: Atropa belladonna, Deadly Nightshade. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 37:77–84.

  • Lee, M. R. and E. E. Schilling. 2006. Solanaceae III: Henbane, hags and Hawley Harvey Crippen. The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 36(4):366–373.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lempiäinen, T. 1992. Macrofossil finds of henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) in the Old Settlement Layers in Southern Finland. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 73(1–4):227–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leporatti, M. L. and P. M. Guarrera. 2007. Ethnobotanical remarks in Capitanata and Salento Areas, Southern Italy. Ethnobiologica 64(2005):51–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leporatti, M. L. and M. Impieri. 2007. Ethnobotanical notes about some uses of medicinal plants in Alto Tirreno Cosentino Area (Calabria, Southern Italy). Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3:1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leporatti, M. L. and S. Ivancheva. 2003. Preliminary comparative analysis of medicinal plants used in the traditional medicine of Bulgaria and Italy. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 87(2–3):123–142.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie, F. 1866. The early races of Scotland and their monuments. Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipič, F. V. 1834. Topografija C–Kr. Deželnega Glavnega Mesta Ljubljane z Vidika Narsvoslovja in Medicine, Zdravstvene Uredite in Biostatike. Ljubljana: Znanstveno društvo za zgodovino zdravstvene kulture Slovenije.

  • Littleton, C. S. 1986. The Pneuma Enthusiastikon: On the possibility of hallucinogenic ‘vapours’ at Delphi and Dodona. Ethos 14(1):76–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luke, D. and S. Krippner. 2011. Psi–chedelic science: An approach to understanding exceptional human experiences. Maps Bulletin xxi(1):59–60.

  • Maheshwari, N. 2013. Rediscovering the medicinal properties of Datura sp.: A review. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 7(39):2885–2897.

  • Marcet, S. 1816. On the medicinal properties of Stramonium; with illustrative cases. Medico–chirurgical Transactions 7:546–575.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Marchais–Roubelat, A. and F. Roubelat. 2011. The Delphi Method as a ritual: Inquiring the Delphic Oracle. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 78:1491–1499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marjanić, S. 2006. Witches’ zoopsychonavigations and the astral broom in the worlds of Croatian legends as (possible) aspects of shamanistic techniques of ecstasy (and trance). Studia mythologica Slavica 17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v9i0.1733.

  • Mayor, A. 2015. Chemical and biological warfare in antiquity. In: History of toxicology and environmental health: Toxicology in antiquity, Vol. II, ed., P. Wexler, 9–20. London: Elsevier.

  • Moisan, M. 1990. Les Plantes Narcotiques Dans Le Corpus Hippocratique. In: La Maladie et Les Maladies Dans La Collection Hippocratique, eds., P. Potter, G. Maloney, and J. Desautels, 381–392. Québec: Les Éditions du Sphinx.

  • Montcriol, A., N. Kenane, G. Delort, Y. Asencio, and B. Palmier. 2007. Intoxication Volontaire Par Datura Stramonium: Une Cause de Mydriase Mal Connue. Annales Francaises d’Anesthesie et de Reanimation 26(9):810–813.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morrissey, J. 2014. An unnoticed fragment of ‘A Tretys of Diverse Herbis’ in British Library, MS Sloane 2460, and the Middle English Career of Pseudo–Albertus Magnus’ ‘De Virtutibus Herbarum’. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 115(2):153–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moulton, B. C. and A. D. Fryer. 2011. Muscarinic receptor antagonists, from folklore to pharmacology; Finding drugs that actually work in asthma and COPD. British Journal of Pharmacology 163(1):44–52.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J. L. 1998. Love potions and the ointment of witches: Historical aspects of the nightshade alkaloids. Clinical Toxicology 36(6):617–627.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mаrković, M., M. Mаtović, D. Pаvlović, B. Zlаtković, A. Mаrković, B. Jotić, and V. Stаnkov–Jovаnović. 2010. Resources of medicinal plants and herbs collector’s calendar of Pirot County (Serbia). Biologica Nyssana 1:9–21.

  • Natale, A. De and A. Pollio. 2007. Plants species in the folk medicine of Montecorvino Rovella (Inland Campania, Italy). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 109(2):295–303.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nedelcheva, A. and S. Draganov. 2014. Bulgarian medical ethnobotany: The power of plants in pragmatic and poetic frames. In: Ethnobotany and biocultural diversities in the Balkans, eds., A. Pieroni and C. L. Quave, 45–66. New York: Springer.

  • Nelson, E. C. and R. A. Stalley. 2006. Medieval naturalism and the botanical carvings at Corcomroe Abbey (County Clare). Gesta 28(2):165–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novais, M. H., I. Santos, S. Mendes, and C. Pinto–Gomes. 2004. Studies on pharmaceutical ethnobotany in Arrabida Natural Park (Portugal). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 93:183–195.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nynavid, I. De. 1615. De La Lycanthropie, Transformation, et Extase Des Sorciers. Paris: Nicolas Rousset.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogden, D. 2002. Magic, witchcraft, and ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orbak, Z., H. Tan, C. Karakelleoglu, H. Alp, and R. Akdag. 1998. Hyoscyamus niger (Henbane) poisonings in the rural area of East Turkey. The Eurasian Journal of Medicine 30:145–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostling, M. 2016. Babyfat and belladonna: Witches’ ointment and the contestation of reality. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 11(1):30–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pardo–de–Santayana, M., J. Tardío, and R. Morales. 2014. Pioneers of Spanish ethnobotany. In: Pioneers in European ethnobiology, eds., I. Svanberg and L. Luczaj, 27–50. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University Library.

  • Passos, I. D. and M. Mironidou–Tzouveleki. 2016. Hallucinogenic plants in the Mediterranean countries. Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse 2:761–772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patočka, J. and R. Jelínková. 2018. Atropine and atropine–like substances usable in warfare. Military Medical Science Letters 86(2): 58–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulsen, B.S. 2010. Highlights through the history of plant medicine. Bioactive compounds in plants: Benefits and risks for man and animals: Proceedings from a symposium held in Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, 13–14 November 2008. Oslo: Norvus Forlag.

  • Penicka, S. 2008. Caveat Anoynter! A study of flying ointments and their plants. The dark side: Proceedings of the Seventh Australian and International Religion, Literature, and the Arts Conference 2002: 181–195.

  • Pentz, A. P., M. P. Baastrup, S. Karg, and U. Mannering. 2009. Kong Haralds vølve. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseets arbejdsmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestalozzi, B. C. and F. Caduff. 1986. Group poisoning by Belladonna. Schweizerische medizinische Wochenschrift 116(27–28):924–926.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfänder, H. J., U. Sokoll, and D. Frohne. 1983. Giftees – Frei Haus. Deutsche Apotheker–Zeitung 123(42):1974–1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piccillo, G. A., L. Miele, E. Mondati, P. A. Moro, A. Musco, A. Forgione, G. Gasbarrini, and A. Grieco. 2006. Anticholinergic syndrome due to ‘Devil’s Herb’: When risks come from the ancient time. International Journal of Clinical Practice 60(4):492–494.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pieroni, A., M. E. Giusti, and C. L. Quave. 2011. Cross–cultural ethnobiology in the Western Balkans: Medical ethnobotany and ethnozoology among Albanians and Serbs in the Pešter Plateau, Sandžak, South–Western Serbia. Human Ecology 39(3):333–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pieroni, A., C. L. Quave, M. E. Giusti, and N. Papp. 2012. ‘We Are Italians!’: The hybrid ethnobotany of a Venetian diaspora in eastern Romania. Human Ecology 40(3): 435–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piomelli, D. and A. Pollio. 1994. A study in Renaissance psychotropic plant ointments. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 16(2):241–273.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pliny the Elder. 1855. The natural history. Trans. J. Bostock and H. T. Riley. London: Taylor and Francis.

  • Podbevšek, D. 2004. Anticholinergic herbal poisoning: A case report. Acta Clinica Croatica 43(3):289–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popović, Z., M. Smiljanića, M. Kostić, P. Nikić, and S. Janković. 2014. Wild flora and its usage in traditional phytotherapy (Deliblato Sands, Serbia, South East Europe). Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 13(1):9–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popović, Z., M. Smiljanić, R. Matic, M. Kostić, P. Nikić, and S. Boyović. 2012. Phytotherapeutical plants from the Deliblato Sands (Serbia): Traditional pharmacopoeia and implications for conservation. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 11(3):385–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porta, G. 1658. Natural Magick. London: Thomas Young & Samuel Speed.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prado, P. 2004. Le Jilgré (Datura Stramonium): Une Plante Hallucinogène, Marquer Territorial En Bretagne Morbihannaise. Ethnologie française 34(3):453–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prósper, B. M. 2017. The irreducible Gauls used to swear by Belenos. – Or did they? Celtic religion, henbane, and historical misapprehensions. Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 64:255–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramoutsaki, I. A., H. Askitopoulou, and E. Konsolaki. 2002. Pain relief and sedation in Roman Byzantine texts: Mandragoras Officinarum, Hyoscyamos Niger, and Atropa Belladonna. International Congress Series 1242:43–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randolph, C. B. 1905. The mandragora of the ancients in folk–lore and medicine. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 40:487–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rätsch, C. 1987. Der Rauch von Delphi. Eine Ethnopharmakologische Annäherung. Curare: Zeitschrift für Medizinethnologie 10(4):215–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2005. The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants: Ethnopharmacology and its applications. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redžić, S. J. 2007. The ecological aspect of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology of population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Collegium antropologicum 31(3):869–890.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. Wild edible plants and their traditional use in the human nutrition in Bosnia–Herzegovina. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 45(3):189–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruck, C. A. P. 2015. Entheogens in ancient times. In: History of toxicology and environmental health: Toxicology in antiquity, Vol. II, ed., P. Wexler, 116–125. London: Elsevier.

  • Salter, H. H. 1860. On asthma: Its pathology and treatment. London: John Churchill.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1869. On the treatment of asthma by Belladonna. The Lancet 93(2370):152–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanna, C., M. Ballero, and A. Maxia. 2006. Le Piante Medicinali Utilizzate Contro Le Patologie Epidermiche in Ogliastra (Sardegna Centro–Orientale). Atti Della Società Toscana Di Scienze Naturali. Memorie, Serie B 113:73–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sannita, W. G. 1986. Induzione Farmacologica Ed Esperienze Psihiche Medicina Popolare e Stregoneria in Europa Agli Inizi Dell’etta Moderna. In: La Strega Il Teologo Lo Scienziato: Atti Del Convegno “Magia, Stregoneria e Superstizione in Europa e Nella Zona Alpina,” eds., M. Cuccu and P. A. Rossi, 119–140. Genova: Edizioni Culturali Internazionali.

  • Sayin, U. H. 2014. The consumption of psychoactive plants during religious rituals: The roots of common symbols and figures in religions and myths. NeuroQuantology 12(2):276–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultes, R. E. 1969. Hallucinogens of plant origin. Science 163(3864):245–254.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schultes, R. E., A. Hofmann, and C. Rätsch. 2001. Plants of the gods: Their sacred, healing, and hallucinogenic powers. Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press.

  • Šeškauskaite, D. and B. Gliwa. 2006. Some Lithuanian ethnobotanical taxa: A linguistic view on thorn apple and related plants. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2(13). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-13.

  • Shorney, P., trans. 1969. Volumes 5 & 6. In: Plato in Twelve Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

  • Sobrero, A. 1975. Il Culto Della Mandragora in Romania. In: Gengis–Khan: Studi Comparati Sulle Religioni e Sul Folklore Della Dacia e Dell’Europa Centrale, eds., M. Eliade and A. Da Zalmoxis, 180–198. Rome: Ubaldini Editore.

  • Soni, P., A. A. Siddiqui, J. Dwivedi, and V. Soni. 2012. Pharmacological properties of Datura stramonium L. as a potential medicinal tree: An overview. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2(12):1002–1008.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sōukand, R., Y. Hrynevich, I. Vasilyeva, J. Prakofjewa, Y. Vnukovich, J. Paciupa, A. Hlushko, Y. Knureva, Y. Litvinava, S. Vyskvarka, H. Silivonchyk, A. Paulava, M. Kōoiva, and R. Kalle. 2017. Multi–functionality of the few: Current and past uses of wild plants for food and healing in Liubán Region, Belarus. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 13(10). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-017-0139-x.

  • Sōukand, R. and A. Pieroni. 2016. The importance of a border: Medical, veterinary, and wild food ethnobotany of the Hutsuls living on the Romanian and Ukrainian sides of Bukovina. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 185:17–40.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stevanović, Z. D., M. Petrović, and S. Aćić. 2014. Ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional use of plants in Serbia in relation to sustainable rural development. In: Ethnobotany and biocultural diversities in the Balkans, eds., A. Piernoi and C. L. Quave, 229–252. New York: Springer.

  • Stika, H. P. 1996. Traces of a possible Celtic brewery in Eberdingen–Hochdorf, Kreis Ludwigsburg, southwest Germany. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 5(1–2):81–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suhonen, P. 1936. Suomalaiset Kasvinnimet. Helsinki: Suomalainen eläin– ja kasvitieteellinen seura Vanamo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabor, E. 1970. Plant poisons in Shakespeare. Economic Botany 24(1):81–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tasić, S. 2012. Ethnobotany in SEE–WB countries; Traditional uses of indigenous plants. Lekovite Sirovine 32:71–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toderaş, M., S. Hansen, A. Reingruber, and J. Wunderlich. 2009. Pietrele–Măgura Gorgana: O Aşezare Eneolitică La Dunărea de Jos Între 4500 Şi 4250 î . e . N . MATERIALE ŞI CERCETĂRI ARHEOLOGICE V:39–90.

  • Ulbricht, C., E. Basch, P. Hammerness, M. Vora, J. Wylie, and J. Woods. 2004. An evidence–based systematic review of belladonna by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration. Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy 4(4):61–90.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vidović, D., P. Brečić, A. Haid, and V. Jukić. 2005. Intoksikacija Bunikom. Liječnički Vjesnik 127:22–23.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vončica, M., D. Baričevič, and M. Brvar. 2014. Adverse effects and intoxications related to medicinal/harmful plants. Acta agriculturae Slovenica 103(2):263–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vrussel, D. E. 2004. Medicinal plants of Mt. Pelion, Greece. Economic Botany 58:S174–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vucevac–Bajt, V. and M. Karlovic. 2016. Traditional methods for the treatment of animal diseases in Croatia. Revue Scientifique et Technique de l’OIE 13(2):499–512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vukanovic, T. P. 1989. Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: Characteristics of witches. Folklore 100(1):9–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waniakowa, J. 2007. Mandragora and Belladonna – The names of two magic plants. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 124:161–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitz, G. 2003. Love and death in Wagner’s Tristan Und Isolde—An epic anticholinergic crisis. BMJ 327:1469–1471.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Will, E. 1942. Sur La Nature Du Pneuma Delphique” Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 66–67:161–75.

  • Williams, H. C. and A. du Vivier. 1990. Belladonna plaster – Not as bella as it seems. Contact Dermatitis 23(2):119–120.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Worobec, C. D. 2006. Witchcraft beliefs and practices in prerevolutionary Russian and Ukrainian villages. Russian Review 54(2):165–187.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Karsten Fatur

Authors
  1. Karsten Fatur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karsten Fatur.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fatur, K. “Hexing Herbs” in Ethnobotanical Perspective: A Historical Review of the Uses of Anticholinergic Solanaceae Plants in Europe. Econ Bot 74, 140–158 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09498-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09498-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation