Mandrakes, mandragora, aint no mountain high enough

[Diane Clement]

The pictures of the mandrake plant and fruits are very intersting .I am particularly intersted in the colour of the flowers and the size and texture of the leaf .Did the leaves stay crumpled up like that or did they flatten out .Also what was the actual colour of the flowers .They look more blue than green
Mel   

This picture was taken when the flowers first opened in March, so the leaves were only just coming through.  They then do open up and flatten up into quite large leaves, perhaps up to 30cm long.  I can't remember the exact colour of the flowers, maybe the photo is deceptive, I would have described them as muddy-cream

[melbee]

I  like the photographs have you got any more, I love to look at mandrake snaps  What compost is the mandrake planted in it looks like a rockery . Do you have problems with slugs eating the leaves ?

The Israelis are very interested in the mandragora officinarum fruit .They make a drink from it .Has anyone ever tasted the fruit .I must admit that because of the toxic nature of the root I have viewed the whole plant with a good deal of caution .

Anyway I have had very little luck with the Mandragora caulescens and M. shebbearei seed search .There are some beautiful pictures of the plant .But I have found no one that actually grows it .When I first came on site I thought I read that someone was growing it I might have been mistaken

Mel

[Maggi Young]

I think, Mel, that the photos shown on the Forum have been pix from the gardens of friends of forumists, rather than the actual forumists' plants! 

[melbee]

I think you are correct .Perhaps they will get in contact with me. I feel quite confident that some seeds will turn up eventually .Mainly due to my constant delusional positive mental attitude .I have found that persistence is better than intelligence in these types of things 
Mel

[Diane Clement]

I  like the photographs have you got any more, I love to look at mandrake snaps  What compost is the mandrake planted in it looks like a rockery . Do you have problems with slugs eating the leaves ? 

My plant is actually growing in a gravel path.  Something does eat the leaves, although I didn't think it was slugs.  It is usually quite late in the season when the leaves are large and not particularly attractive, so it doesn't harm the plant.

The Israelis are very interested in the mandragora officinarum fruit .They make a drink from it .Has anyone ever tasted the fruit .I must admit that because of the toxic nature of the root I have viewed the whole plant with a good deal of caution .

I am surprised that anyone makes a drink from the plant as I would have thought it poisonous.  Is it an alcoholic drink?  Are the toxins removed or made harmless in some way?

[Oron Peri]

Mandragora autumnalis is a common plant in this region, all parts of the plant are highly toxic [Contains high level of Atropin] accept the fruits when fully rippen.
Seeds are also toxic and that is why the Arabs call this plant 'Mad people's Apple' because if you eat the fruit with the seeds  you spend sometime elsewhere..
The rippen fruits have very nice perfume and remind the taste of an Ananas, some people use to make a liqueur from these fruits and lately even available commercially.

[ashley]

... some people use to make a liqueur from these fruits ...

a liqueur to make the heart race

[melbee]

As Ashley says it is a brew to make the heart race and other parts of the body also  .

Please could you tell me how is the fruit prepared for consumption ?Are the seeds removed and the skin and the inner pulp eaten or fermented ?In Israel is the M.officinarum as common as the Autumnalis .In England the stinging nettle and dandelion are very common ,is the mandrake as common as those .I am asking because I am actually running short of Autumn mandrake seeds .

Also how do you get a quote to come up in that little blue box ?
Still no sign of the Mandragora caulescens and M. shebbearei seed.
Mel

 

[Maggi Young]

Also how do you get a quote to come up in that little blue box ?

Mel

 

To get a quote in a box, Mell, just click on the QUOTE button at the top right of the post you want to quote ...
    Quote Modify Remove .......
then you can leave the whole quote ot chop out any bit that is not relevant    ......seemples... as a TV Meerkat has said! !

[Oron Peri]

Mel,

M. autumnalis is the only species to grow here, interestingly there are two distinct forms, one with rigid, flat, gray leaves and the other with soft, more erect green leaves.
This phenomenon wasn't study yet and some think we might have two separate species here.

There are many folkloric believes regarding this plant such as if your chicken doesn't want to sit  on her eggs you have to feed her with some seeds of Mandragora.
Off course many believes of it being used as natural Viagra, uses for fertility.
And as a cure for snakes and scorpions bits.
The fruit is eaten by removing the seeds.
It is a common plant growing id different altitudes and soils, it is an early bloomer thanks to the structure of the plant that manages to collect the water and canalize it to its roots, often you can find it in flower just a few weeks after the first rain.
I have very few spear seeds, pm if you wish to have some.

[melbee]

Hello again
High winds in Cambridgeshire tonight; I was watering my plant with the hose and had it all blow back on me, got soaked.

Would you have a picture of the two different  forms .  I am very interested in them .I like to study stem length ; flower colour, size and aroma which incidentally is very weak but oddly attractive .A bit like my next door neighbour .

There are many folkloric believes regarding this plant such as if your chicken doesn't want to sit  on her eggs you have to feed her with some seeds of Mandragora.

I think there is a great deal of European folklore about mandrake mostly from the 17th century involving hanging people who were caught with the roots
Mel 

[Tony Willis]

two pictures of a mandrago in flower. This was collected as ripe berries near K'maras in Turkey.

This one has jagged leaves and I have another from the same area with rounded leaves but this has not flowered yet. They are summer dormant.

[maggiepie]

Mandragora officinarum was on the AGS Exchange last time.  

Mandragora officinarum has been on the AGS seed list every year for the last 8 years (which is as long as I have been working on it and have the figures).  Never in great quantities, but hopefully enough to satisfy demand.  My own plant was grown from AGS seed some years ago, and I have sent seed back in for the last few years.  This year my plant flowered well and produced more seed than usual.  

the following pictures show the plant in flower earlier this year, the fruits taken from the plant and cut open to dry, and the seed drying off.  

Wow, those leaves look like swiss chard!!
What an interesting plant.

[melbee]

Hoots mon I've gone all wobbly at the knees. These pics are definitely for the centre fold of mandragora monthly.
They are interesting flowers .Are you saying you took the pictures or that you have the plants  and seeds ?

[Tony Willis]

I am saying I have grown them from seed I collected in Turkey and these are photgraphs of the plant in flower today in my greenhouse.