Mandrakes, mandragora, aint no mountain high enough

[melbee]

Very nice looking plants .Are they in pots ?

[Ulla Hansson]

Hi Mel,
The only place I know of that have plants of Mandragora caulescens is Larz Danielson on Spezialplant. The plants are over for this year but he hopes to have plants for sale autumn 2010.
Ulla
www.spezialplant.nu

[Rodger Whitlock]

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

But as the old botanists were wont to say, it's for "the gardens of the curious." Mandragora officinarum is not, no matter which way you cut it or chop the logic, a "pretty" plant. In fact, it's downright ugly. If you want to adorn your perennial beds and rock gardens with something that looks like a slightly delusional Swiss chard, mandrake's your boy, however.

[maggiepie]

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

But as the old botanists were wont to say, it's for "the gardens of the curious." Mandragora officinarum is not, no matter which way you cut it or chop the logic, a "pretty" plant. In fact, it's downright ugly. If you want to adorn your perennial beds and rock gardens with something that looks like a slightly delusional Swiss chard, mandrake's your boy, however.

So, Rodger, we can call it cute 

[melbee]

I love mandrakes I think they are beautiful .Glorious flowers and the colours wow .What do botanist know of beauty.
I shall now write a poem in celebration of the mandrake .
Oh mandrake what beauty in thy celestial note, how must better than a chop in the frote 
Amongst your leaves of greenest dye more glory than a thumb in the eye .

Come on you lot admit it I'm good  ha ha ah

[Lesley Cox]

But as the old botanists were wont to say, it's for "the gardens of the curious." Mandragora officinarum is not, no matter which way you cut it or chop the logic, a "pretty" plant. In fact, it's downright ugly. If you want to adorn your perennial beds and rock gardens with something that looks like a slightly delusional Swiss chard, mandrake's your boy, however.

And some seeds from this very gentleman are germinating here, this very day. Three up overnight.

[Lesley Cox]

Love the poem Melbee. Perhaps you could perform for some other "odd" plants like Arisaema and Arum?

[David Nicholson]

I love mandrakes I think they are beautiful .Glorious flowers and the colours wow .What do botanist know of beauty.
I shall now write a poem in celebration of the mandrake .
Oh mandrake what beauty in thy celestial note, how must better than a chop in the frote 
Amongst your leaves of greenest dye more glory than a thumb in the eye .

Come on you lot admit it I'm good  ha ha ah

Mel,by some chance are you related to William Topaz McGonagall?

[Lesley Cox]

Puff Puff....

[melbee]

McGonagal what a poet 

[Paul T]

Rodger might call em ugly, but the pics of the flowers and leaves look rather nice to my eye.  At least on the computer screen anyway. 

[Maggi Young]

Mandrake leaves are strange... they are rather coarse in appearance, giving, to my eye, every indication of their poisonous nature but, at the same time, they are regularly chomped by slugs, snails and caterpillars.... you'd wonder why, wouldn't you??!! 

[melbee]

some varieties of mandrake leaf are smooth .I have just looked up the mandrake in my culpepers herbal he says "The leaves are cooling and are used in ointments and other external applications. "I wouldn't want to risk it myself there are quite high levels of barking mad chemicals present .
Slugs grrruuuuuuuuurrr 

Does anyone know if the picture in culpepers book  of the mandrake is the original picture from the 1600s ?

[sanskrit1008]

Who has seeds?
Share
Can send to me?

From Taiwan

Thanks

[sanskrit1008]

This is poisonous

The form root looks like ginsengs

Want this seed