BELLADONNA MEDICINE — Atropa Belladonna L.
BLACK BLACK (GERMAN) – Hyoscyamus niger L.
CZECH BLACK – Hyoscyamus bohemicus FW Schmidt
COMMON DORMUNIC (DIVWOOD) – Datura stramonium L.
The nightshade family is Solanaceae
What do medicinal belladonna, blekota black (German), blekota Czech and common dope look like? Medicinal belladonna is a perennial herb 1-1.5 m tall. Its stem is straight, forked at the top, short-glandular-downy. The leaves are alternate, up to 25 cm long, ovate, pointed, narrowed to the base into a petiole, entire edges. The flowers are quite large, bell-shaped, drooping, single or, rarely, paired, in the upper part dirty-purple or brown-purple, around the base greenish-yellow or yellow-brown, appear in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a double nested, flattened-spherical, shiny, black, multi-seeded berry with a green cup. Belladonna blooms in June-July, the fruits ripen in July-September.
Blekota black (German) is a biennial plant 30-60 cm tall, with a branchy, upright cylindrical stem. Leaves with a wide whitish median vein; the lower ones are narrowed into petioles, the upper ones are sessile. The flowers are large, dirty-white-yellow, with a network of purple veins and a purple spot inside. During flowering, they are clustered at the top of the stem and branches. The fruit is a two-nested, oblong, jug-shaped box with a lid, full of poppy-like seeds. The whole plant has an unpleasant, intoxicating smell, sticky from glandular hairs. Blooms from the end of May to October and during fruit ripening.
Czech blackberry is an annual plant 5-25 cm tall, with a thin root, without a rosette of leaves. The stem is unbranched. The corolla is pale yellow with purple veins. It is often found throughout the territory of Ukraine.
Datura is an annual plant 30-100 cm tall. Its stem is straight, hollow, the leaves are ovate, pointed. The flowers are large, white, their corollas are wavy, the cups are tubular, pentagonal, expanded from below. The fruit is a box with green soft spines, similar to the fruit of an ordinary bitter chestnut, opens with four flaps; the seeds are kidney-shaped, rounded, black, matte, with a mesh surface, resembling the seeds of nigella (Nigella sativa L.). Just like the medicinal belladonna , the black cohosh has an intoxicating smell. Datura blooms in June – August. Very poisonous plants.
Where do they grow? Belladonna is widespread in the Carpathians, Prykarpattia, Roztochchi-Opilla, in the Crimea (in the mountains and on the South Bank). It grows in deciduous forests between shrubs, on young forest cuttings, mainly on lawns. Black weed and dope are weeds. They grow all over the territory of the UKRAINE — in garbage dumps, near roads, in gardens and near estates.
What and when are collected? From belladonna – leaves, at the beginning of flowering: in June – July. They are pinched around the base of the plate and dried immediately in the shade. In July-August, fleshy, juicy lateral roots are dug up from plants of the second year of development, the woody base of the main root is removed and they are dried in shaded, well-ventilated rooms. The roots of carniolian scopolia (matrigana — Scopolia carniolica Jacq.) similar in action and chemical composition to belladonna (of the same family) are also used. which often grows in large numbers in continuous thickets in the beech forests of Transcarpathia.
The seeds of the black seed are collected at the end of August and in September, the leaves with a salty-bitter taste are basal rosettes, the first year of development, in the fall; stems, or whole tops with flowers, in the second year of development, during the flowering of the plant and immediately dried in the shade. Dope leaves are collected in the same way. Since all three plants are very poisonous, you must be very careful when collecting and drying them. You should not touch your nose, lips, eyes with dirty hands, wash them well after work. These dry plants are kept separately from other medicinal plants, fresh stocks are harvested every year, and old ones are burned.
When is it used? Belladonna leaves contain alkaloids atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine ( hyoscine ), methylescu-letin glycoside, coumarin derivatives, mineral salts, asparagine, resinous substances; the roots, in addition to them, also contain tannins. They act as a pain reliever, antispasmodic, reduce mental excitement (scopolamine). Belladonna is used for bronchial asthma, bradycardia, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, gastrointestinal diseases, spasmodic cholecystitis, against exhausting sweating in pulmonary tuberculosis, parkinsonism (root), as well as for mushroom and morphine poisoning – 5-10 drops freshly squeezed root juice (alcohol tincture) twice a day. Belladonna is contraindicated in glaucoma and breastfeeding mothers.
The same alkaloids are also found in the leaves of black sedum, and its seeds also contain the bitter glycoside hyoscypicrine, hyoscyrin, a resinous substance, fatty oil, sugar, and mineral salts. Blackberry oil (infusion of 15-30 parts of blackberry seeds on 100 parts of sunflower oil for 8-10 days) is mainly used externally. A tincture of 15 g of crushed leaves of blekota per 100 g of alcohol or vodka is used 2 drops per 1 tablespoon of water three times a day for dysentery, chorea (Vit’s disease), convulsive vomiting, spasms, even for epilepsy (as a sedative). In small doses, it has a calming effect, in large doses it irritates.
In addition to hyoscyamine and atropine, datum leaves also contain the alkaloid daturin , a protein substance, wax, resin, and mineral salts. They have a calming effect on the nervous system and relieve bronchial spasms in chronic catarrh of the respiratory tract; together with the leaves of belladonna and blekota black are part of the anti-asthma powder (“Asthmatol”). This powder is poured on hot coals, and the smoke is inhaled during attacks of asthma (asthma) or a small cigarette is smoked from a mixture of this powder with a crushed leaf of sage in a ratio of 1:2.
As a narcotic remedy for shortness of breath, convulsive cough, hysteria, epilepsy, severe gastrointestinal pain, tincture of dope seeds is used (1 part of crushed seeds is poured with 5 parts of 70% alcohol, infused for 7 days, filtered and poured into a bottle) – no more than 2 drops per 1 tablespoon of water and no more than 5 times a day (for asthma, neuralgia, neurasthenia, nervous and mental diseases, whooping cough and spasmodic cough, for painful drowsiness, chorea, epilepsy, for constant and prolonged hiccups, for seasickness and air diseases, attacks of Meniere’s disease, priapism – painful and prolonged tension of the genital organ without sexual arousal, nymphomania – excessive sexual attraction to women).
Steamed belladonna leaves are used externally for poultices to soothe pain. Alcoholic tincture of the leaves of blekota black (mixed with a small amount of blekota oil) is used for rubbing in gouty, neuralgic and rheumatic pains, as a lotion for large boils and carbuncles that are formed, as a component of mixtures for rubbing against colds, pleurisy (sometimes in a mixture with blackberry oil).
In the case of unbearable toothache, seeds of black sedum are poured onto hot coals in a metal teapot and the smoke is drawn slightly into the mouth from the spout of the teapot, without inhaling (hence the word “German”). For full (with chronic rheumatism) and sitting (with prolapse of the uterus and rectum) baths, douching, and enemas, a decoction of dope leaves (20 g per bucket of water) is used.
All these plants are very poisonous and are prescribed only by a doctor.
In case of poisoning by the three plants described (dizziness, decreased sweating, dry mouth, dilated pupils, hallucinations, delirium, shallow breathing), the stomach is washed with a solution of tannin or potassium permanganate, 8 drops of opium infusion per spoonful of water, a solution of charcoal, they drink strong black coffee, put cold compresses on their heads.