Mandrake as a medicinal plant

The appearance of this plant's tough, deep-growing root, which splits into two in the lower half, can vaguely resemble a human figure.

This similarity has meant that since earliest times this plant was recommended as a tonic for the body and thought to promote fertility. Greek physicians and botanists, however, were already aware of mandrake's properties as a sedative.

During the Middle Ages it was the subject of many legends that acclaimed its magical properties and laid down strict rules for its collection.

Associated with witchcraft, mandrake was identified by popular medicine as a witches plant.
It was never taken seriously by academic medicine, which considered it comparable to other plants with a sedating action, like thorn apple, deadly nightshade and hypericum.