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“Old is the tree and the fruit good,
Very old and thick the wood.
Woodman, is your courage stout?
Beware! the root is wrapped about
Your mother's heart, your father's bones;
And like the mandrake comes with groans.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson

“Mandrake
(Atropa Mandragora)

If you're interested in a plant that looks like a person, has visible sex organs, is an aphrodisiac of the first order, contains mind-altering alkaloids such as hyoscyamine, has been known to cure depression and insomnia, then Atropa Mandragora is the plant for you. But be careful. More than one person who has pulled this plant out of the ground has died in the process.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire

“I said, why are you growing all of these mandrake plants?"
"Calm down," said Armand. "She can't understand you."
"She can when she wants to."
"Some people call this plant the 'devil's candle,' because it glistens at night."
"Is she the devil?"
The Cashier looked angry.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire

“The mandrake belongs to the potato family. It has large dark leaves, and white or purplish flowers that turn into yellow apple-sized berries with a lovely, fragrant scent. It's an edible plant, which is good to know if you're ever stuck in the jungle without food. While the fruit of the mandrake is attractive and good-tasting, the subterranean part of the plant is where all the action takes place. It's the part that humans have been fascinated with for ages and ages, since biblical times.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire

“Mandrake is medicinal because the root contains an alkaloid that belongs to the atropine group. It's a powerful narcotic and analgesic, and, in larger doses, a superb anesthetic. It's magical because of the bizarre shape of the root, which looks like a human being, sometimes male, sometimes female. This root can and will exercise supernatural power over the human body and mind. It's both an aphrodisiac and a strong hallucinogen. Think about it. Those two things together can create the most mind-bending sex you're ever likely to have. And babies, too. In the book of Genesis, the barren Rachel eats the root and becomes pregnant with Joseph. The plant produces out-of-body experiences in some susceptible people, and a vastly increased sex drive in almost all men."
"Sounds good to me."
"A lot of people think so. Folks love to experiment with the mandrake. The problem is that it's poisonous in the wrong doses, and, too often to mention, people end up sick, or worse. They forget that the mandrake is in the family Solanaceae, similar to deadly nightshade.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire