Episode 53: Femme Fatales & The Devil’s Cherries - Belladonna
a photo of a belladonna flower
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Rooted! This week we are digging into a plant I’ve been teasing from the very beginning- One scorned ladies have loved and their husbands loathed- belladonna.
] Belladonna is a plant with almost as many names as it has stories- it’s also known as deadly nightshade, the devil’s cherry, Dwane, death berries, and (one of my favorites) beautiful death.
While it may go by many names, there’s no mistaking this absolutely iconic botanical. Belladonna- or really Atropa belladonna is a member of the solancea or nightshade family, with famous cousins like potato, tomato, eggplant, and of course, Henbane!
It’s native to parts of europe, and western asia- specifically turkey! It’s also been naturalized in North American and honestly pretty much all over the world- this stuff spreads like WILDFIRE. Especially in areas that get lots of rain, have plenty of limestone in the soil, and have disturbed soil so their tiny little seeds can really get in there without too much work.
Belladonna is known for its shiny black fruits and stunning foliage that springs forth out of its pale grey stems. It can get up to 7 feet tall, and is technically categorized as a subshrub since it’s on the smaller and sprig-ier side. They have very distinct bell shaped flowers that are a pale purple, fading to a yellowish green at the base. The blooms are said to smell faintly floral, while the berries are supposed to smell a bit like unripened tomatoes.
The berries (and really the whole plant) are toxic, but much like henbane, it’s also been used in many medications, ceremonies, and cosmetics, and even killings. While they are super toxic, they are also a little bit sweet, making them a little extra deadly, as that tell-tale bitterness isn't there as a warning.
But before it was regarded as a way to permanently let go of a lover, it was used across history as a way to worship, let loose, and look your best.
In terms of worship, belladonna was often given as an offering to hecate and pretty much all of the other badass ladies in greek, turkish, and even nordic cultures.
In greece, belladonna was given as an offering to hecate and other gods due to it’s connection to beauty, power, and hallucinations. Aside from that, it’s also said to be the physical manifestation of Atropa- the final sister of the 3 fates, who was responsible for death/the ending of things.
In Turkey, Belladonna played an important role in the transition from girl to woman. According to an old wives tale, girls would dig up a belladonna root the night before their 13th birthday, then, carry it over their heads on their way home as other members of their village would try to get in her way, start an argument, or block her path. If the girl managed to get home without engaging with anyone, she would be rewarded with a lifetime of beauty…but if not, she would be cursed and forced to be ugly forever….some pretty high stakes for a birthday party if you ask me.
In Norse culture, Belladonna was VERY closely related to Valkyries. As a quick crash course for those not familiar, Valkyries are winged women warrior spirits who pluck the souls of those who die on the battlefield and guide them to their afterlife.
Nightshade is tied to these ladies because of a rumored historical practice that involved soldiers in germany (and in other parts of the world, but we’re focused on areas with Valkyries right now) eating Belladonna berries before battle to fall into a sort of vicious trance that made them able to fight harder, faster, and for longer than their opponents.
Of course, those who fought hardest would have caught the eye of a valkyrie, who would then take them to live with odin as they prepared for ragnarok.
Speaking of the afterlife, deadly nightshade is also closely tied to the devil himself, with some reports claiming he loved it so much that anytime he was UNABLE to be near it, he would send a guard to look after his beloved blooms.
Obviously (or maybe not-so obviously) a lot of this is tied back to the tangled web of belladonna being used in magic and in murder. As such a prolific poison and potion ingredient, it really should come as no surprise that so many were quick to cry Satan.
Before we dive into the real murder and medicine of it all, we have a few fictional murders I wanted to quickly touch on, as they really serve to capture the reputation Belladonna made for itself back then and even into today.
For starters, Deadly nightshade pops up in famed favorite and later disney classic “Snow white” as the famed substance that poisoned the apple the evil stepmother gives to snow white. Because the berries are famously sweet (at least in comparison to most other deadly plants) they would have easily been hidden by the taste of the apple, and because it is so potent and easier to find in the kind of shady forest she ran to, it’s would have been pretty easy for the evil witch to pull off.
Outside of fairytales, deadly nightshade also popped up in plenty of shakespeare’s works, most notably as the poison Juliet would have been given in Romeo and Juliet due to the fact that it infamously can cause users to enter a deep, trance like state before death due to the way it impacts that heart- but we’ll get to that in a second.
Shakespeare is regarded as a bit of an herbalist, or at least As interested in it all as I am, abd he seems to have been equally as into the nightshade family as I am, so it’s not a shock that he tends to pop up in these episodes! And it’s nice to know that psychedelic poisons really are a tie that binds us all across time and space.
Pivoting back from all that murder, let’s dive into the wild REA LIFE applications of Belladonna.
Kicking it off, we’ll start with cosmetics. Belladonna was used in a variety of cosmetics across history. It was used in Blush, perfume, and even Eye drops.
As a blush, belladonna leaves and berries were crushed, then a tonic of sorts that would be brushed onto the skin, resulting in a flushed look. This is partially because belladonna can be slightly irritating to the skin, and as it is absorbed it does increase heart rate and blood flow, leading to a literal blushing effect.
This subtle color has actually inspired modern cosmetic companies, so if you want to replicate the look, you can do it without poisoning yourself! Isn’t progress fun?!
Eyedrops were made in a similar manner, but with just the juice of the berry, which was VERY diluted (some sources are saying one part juice to up to 130,000 parts water would still dilate pupils). Renaissance Ladies would drip this into their eyes for a seductive dilated look.
This again works due to the active chemicals belladonna contains, which can easily pass through the blood brain barrier and are VERY easily absorbed into the body. We can thank the tropane alkaloids scopolamine, atropine, and hyoscyamine for that
dilation, as these guys act as anticholinergics which target the central nervous system. Suppressing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, these chemicals prevent communications from the brain and the rest of the body, leaving certain muscles to kind of fend for themselves. This results in vomiting, increased heart rate, and eventually hallucinations, seizures, and cardiac arrest in higher doses.
Of course, belladonna wasn’t just used in cosmetics, but also in medicine and recreation!
In recreational history, belladonna was sometimes employed for trips due to its hallucinogenic properties. But these trips aren’t like the ones often depicted in Hollywood or described by those using mushrooms or LSD> Instead, they are often described as being confusing, with users feeling disjointed, disconnected, and disoriented. There tend to be strong, sometimes euphoric feelings, and often people report feelings of flying.
In medieval medicine, belladonna was often used in something commonly referred to as “Twilight Sleep” a combination of belladonna and opium often used as a sedative when people were entering surgery, and sometimes even in childbirth as it would help to relax the muscles and reduce pain- though today we have much safer options!
It was also commonly employed for most of the same uses of Henbane, like as a Painkiller muscle relaxer, and anti-inflammatory, and to treat menstrual problems, peptic ulcer disease, histaminic reaction, and motion sickness. It was also sometimes used as a tincture, and added to bandaids, sort of like the transdermal patches that were used in motion sickness.
We talked about that a LOT more in the recently remastered Henbane episode, so I won’t be digging too much deeper here, but you can check out that episode and our coverage of Datura if you want to learn more.
Instead of rehashing all that science, I thought it might be interesting to dive into some of the real life murder cases using belladonna. This isn’t a true crime podcast, so we won’t be getting into all of the grizzly details, but because this is SUCH an iconic chapter in the story of this plant, I didn’t want to leave it out.
There are SO. MANY. cases that have leveraged belladonna, but my personal favorite has to be aqua tofana.
To really understand what lead to this case, we have to go back to 16th century italy. It was not a great time for woman, who very much were regarded as objects, and had to rely on men to even be treated decently. Women were often pressured at a fairly young age to settle down and marry a man, even if he was cruel, unhelpful, or even just straight up gross. Women often didn’t get a say, especially if they were not from wealthy families, and were essentially forced into these marriages with very little regard for their own feelings or even safety.
Life after marriage wasn’t any better. For most in these forced Marriages, their days were spent taking care of a man who looked down on them, didn’t value their contributions, and often was abusive when he didn’t get his way. For many, their futures seemed bleak.
However, one woman- Giulia Tofana, knew there was a way out. At the age of 13, her own mother was executed after being accused of murdering her abusive husband by poisoning his food. As she got older, Guila remembered this lesson from her mother, and decided she should try her hand at this practice- this time being a bit more careful in the craft.
So, she set to work creating a poison that was reliable, easily concealable, and most importantly- untraceable.
After a few iterations, she settled on what is now infamously referred to as “Aqua Tofana” a blend of nightshade, arsenic, and lead.
Guilia knew she couldn't just straight up sell poison to women on the street. It would be hard to hide the actual product, and she would never be able to stay in one town long enough to earn the trust of her customers. Plus, let’s face it, she couldn't exactly MARKET her husband killing concoction. Like “Hello ladies- Giulia Tofana here. looking for a way to get rid of that disgusting slob you sit across at the dinner table each night? Boy howdy do I have just the thing for you- just a few drops of my miracle elixir and your troubles will be a thing of the past! Don’t believe me? Just listen to these satisfied customers!” - not exactly something the cops are looking the other way on…
Instead, she got a group of girlfriends together to sell cosmetics- kind of like a covert mary kay operation, but instead of makeup their secretly selling murder. The set up was simple though- these ladies would have entire cases of makeup- just like any other apothecary, but this one had one VERY special product- "Manna of St Nicholas of Bar- a common powder used to treat acne and other blemishes. it looked like any other set of eyedrops or ointment a lady of the time might keep in her collection for a night on the town…and because it’s just a silly little makeup moment, their husbands would NEVER even notice, let alone ask questions.
Once the ladies bought the product, they were instructed to put a first, smaller does into their husbands food, and continue these doses for a while. He wouldn’t be able to taste or smell it, since it was a clear liquid, and it would blend seamlessly into any soup, drink, etc.
After the first dose, their spouse would get VERY sick. This was important, as typically these men were in good health, so if they just DROPPED DEAD it would be pretty suspicious, and considering she would have cooked the food, the customer would have been suspect number one- not exactly the outcome they were looking for.
Instead of killing him straight out, these women would instead get their husbands sick and keep them that way- playing the role of devastated, confused, and scared wife, trying to stay strong for the love of their life. They would even call the doctor after this first dose, who would see the symptoms (Sweating, vomiting, increased heart rate, flushed skin, and dilated pupils) and diagnose them with a common illness kind of like the modern day cold.
However, as the doses kept coming, the men would get weaker and weaker. The wife would continue telling symptoms to the doctor, who would inevitably tell her there wasn;t much else she could do… never suspecting she was the cause all along.
Then, after about 4-5 doses, the wman would suddenly pass. Sometimes he was sick the whole time, others there might have been a moment where it looked like he was going to get better…but no matter what the story, some things never changed- the men always died, the women always mourned for EXACTLY the acceptable amount of time, and often didn’t remarry despite having the best skin in town…wink.
This went on for YEARS, with Guilia and her team selling enough poison to kill an estimated 600 men across italy. But of course, like any other crime syndicate, the past does eventually catch up to you… it’s not entirely known EXACTLY what happened, but the most widely accepted answer I saw is that a woman got cold feet when trying to kill her husband. He sucked, but he didn’t deserve to die, she decided- so, as he was MID soup slurp, she begged her husband to stop eating. Frantic, she explained that she had poisoned his soup. Enraged, her husband forced her to tell everything she knew to the police, who later found Guila and her other clients.
While that might have been the end for Guila, Aqua Tofana lived on in infamy, with plenty of other women and men being inspired by her poisonous past. In fact, there is another FASCINATING case from Hungary in the 1920s where the so called “angel makers' ' - a group of frustrated women- boiled fly paper to get the arsenic out to kill their husbands. This ended up going MUCH further and took a lot of dark turns, which ended in these ladies killing what equated to about an EIGHTH of the population in their small town.
While murder is NEVER something to celebrate, for women who had no other options, Aqua Tofana gave them what they saw was the ONLY way out, their only chance to live any kind of life not tethered to a man, and to be their whole selves in a society that was otherwise unkind to them.
Today, belladonna still pops up in stories, products, magic, and gardens. The active chemicals are still used in motion sickness drugs, and in some other homeopathic remedies for teething and other mild pain. In Fact, in 2016 there was a warning issued not to give ito children in teething medicine due to the impacts on children’s bodies and the known issues with belladonna not being consistent in potency.
Of course, with how common belladonna is as a weed, and how enticing those berries can look and even taste, it’s not too uncommon to hear of people eating them. Luckily though, with early intervention, death by belladonna is not nearly as common, as most people do end up expelling what they did eat before it can cause serious issues.
While I certainly don’t suggest you ingest belladonna, the next time you see it in a garden, stumble upon it in the wild, or spot it in your favorite media, I hope you take a moment to say hello, and think of all the interesting ways it’s shaped history and stories across cultures!
That’s all I’ve got for this week, but I’ll be back next week with some more tall tales and true histories to dig into.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna
https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/3133
https://www.thecottagemystic.com/belladonna.html
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/Mind_and_Spirit/belladonna.shtml
https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/deadly-nightshade-botanical-biography
https://eldrum.co.uk/2016/01/20/hecates-herbs-part-one/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odin-Norse-deity
https://www.lifeinnorway.net/valkyries/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4253115
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/atropa-belladonna
