Mandragora officinarum Seeds | Mandrake
LATIN NAME: Mandragora officinarum
COMMON NAME: Mandrake
Plant Profile
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) is a perennial in the nightshade family. Mandrake is dark, waxy bells of old tale, and large, wrinkled leaves rise from crown in the rosettes. It is a plant of open, sunny, deep, loose, well-drained ground. The whole plant is for the eyes only, not for eating or touching without the gloves. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
The species features in the wider study of the nightshade family, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. In practice, its long garden history means the grower inherits a plant of known and dependable habits.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Mandrake for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Mandrake is a fine, curious plant of study collection and the legend. It has been written up in botanical and cultural papers for forked roots and old tales, and it is a fine, curious plant of open, sunny, deep, loose, well-drained garden. Give crown a dry rest through winter, and large leaves will come again in the spring. Thereafter it wants only the ordinary attentions any garden plant receives.
Mandrake is the most legendary of all magical plants, its forked root wrapped in millennia of folklore; its tropane alkaloids are powerfully toxic, so it remains a collector’s botanical wonder, never a home remedy.
Growing from Seed
Raising Mandrake from seed is straightforward. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Transplant the sturdiest seedlings to their permanent spots and let them develop without disturbance.
Our Take
One honest caution: this plant is not safe to ingest, so it is grown for ornament and interest only. Being a perennial, it asks for a permanent spot and repays it yearly. Sun, free drainage and a patient first year are all it really requires.
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