Mandragora officinarum (Mandrake)

[Prophet]

Anyone growing Mandragora? I wouldn't mind some seeds

peace

[smogs]

im pretty sure a number of people do... also im 90% sure SAB sell them

[Torsten]

we have them occasionally. They go dormant in summer here, so usually we sell in autumn and winter. not sure if there are any in the shop right now.

[Prophet]

It doesn't appear that you have any available at the moment. I will have to wait.

thanks

[Rev]

edit

Edited April 21, 2007 by Rev

[Prophet]

ok thanks Rev

peace

[incognito]

ol mandrake sounds pretty nasty from what ive read!!!

[Prophet]

yeah i have never tried them but interested in growing them for interest sake. The use of mandrakes dates back quite a long time. They are actually mentioned in the old testament in the bible (Gen 30:14-16)as an aphrodesiac.

[ 29. April 2005, 23:18: Message edited by: Prophet ]

[apothecary]

EDIT: I'd juswt like to inform you that Mandragora is no longer the correct genus specification for Mandrake, they are now part of the Atropa family.

ala Atropa Mandragora as opposed to Mandragora Officinalis.

I cracked my ol' bible out and took a look out of curiosity, then thought hmm...I wonder if it's any different in the King James bible...

See for yourselves:

 

quote:

---

 

Genesis 30:14-16 (New International Version)

 

New International Version (NIV)

 

14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

 

15 But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?"

 

"Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."

 

16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night.

---

quote:

---

 

Genesis 30:14-16 (King James Version)

 

King James Version (KJV)

 

14And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

 

15And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.

 

16And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

---

[ 30. April 2005, 02:45: Message edited by: apothecary ]

[apothecary]

Other interesting mandrake quotes:

Josephus:

 

quote:

---

 

"A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear."

---

Antony & Cleopatra

 

quote:

---

 

"Give me to drink mandragora...

 

That I might sleep out this great gap of time

 

My Antony is away."

 

Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra, i. 5.

 

---

Romeo & Juliet

 

quote:

---

 

Shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth."

 

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, iv. m3.

 

---

King Henry VI

 

quote:

---

 

"Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan"

 

King Henry VI Part 2 Act 3. Scene II

 

---

etc.

Seems like Shakespeare was quite the fan.

Plenty of other good info (including a quote from Waiting for Godot) at wikipedia.org (search for mandrake).

[visualfx]

try this link

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...item=4376194085

these guys often have some interesting seeds, but i find there prices a bit steep....see what you think

[Prophet]

I wonder how Reuben knew about the mandrakes, and why he was collecting them for His mother?

thanks for that visualfx

[mr toodly]

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by apothecary:

 

[QB] Other interesting mandrake quotes:

 

 

"Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan"

 

King Henry VI Part 2 Act 3. Scene II

 

---

etc.

A belief that the mandrake shrieked upon being uprooted persisted into the Renaissance period. This was believed to kill. Thus the quotation from Josephus (an ancient Jew) regarding the use of harvest dogs.

[caludia]

 

quote:

---

 

"A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear."

---

i haven't specifically check but here is my guess as to how a typical Erowid quote on mandrake might read.

"Yo man, my buddy and me ran out of weed and i called by friend N but he was like totally fresh out, so we were sitting in our dorm and so i said "what the heck, i'll give it a try", and so i ate 5 entire rootballs of some mandrake plants (i think - man, they were something like that, that's what my buddy told me) [***Erowid note: We cannot be sure that dosages and identification given in this report are accurate ***] so i ate them, but MAN, i felt so sick after about half an hour, i had to puke outside the dorm cafeteria, but then my buddy was like totaLLY hallucinating, and i was like, shit, man, i need some weed, but anyway i decided to chase this mandrake rootballs with 5 pounds of nutmeg, but i can tell you i didn't feel too good after that, the next thing i remember i was down at the lockup, and the sheriff asked me who i was, and i was like "i don't know man", next thing i remember i was in hospital... let me say this as a warning, dudes - this is bad shit, i advise never to do this like i did, i was so young and inexperienced you know? Peace Out, MadDog"

[ 10. May 2005, 03:29: Message edited by: MetalGuru ]

[mr toodly]

Anticholinergics are dumb drugs for dumb people.

[planthelper]

today i laid down my mandragora seeds, which i took out of a not fully mature fruit...

previous attempts by gom and myself failed to rise a single plant with this seed.

thats why i never offered them again...

however playing around with them today, i had the feeling that either they might need cold stratification or nicking!!

they got a hard shell and previous failure to get them germinating might very well have been due this moisture unpenetratable seedcoat, which proy is a save guard by the plant to avoid, germing just before winter...

:confused:

[ 10. May 2005, 08:17: Message edited by: planthelper ]

[caludia]

PH, if you have any spare seed, could you send me some?

i would like to try sowing them, using (separately) both cold strat and GA-3

anyway if u have any left, please PM me..

also btw i wasn't asking you to send me Hoodia in the other thread i was just being silly.

[Torsten]

Fresh seed germinates in a few days. Looks like I just sourced soem fressh seed, so will be offering seeds and plants soon.

[Rev]

r. Jackson:

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by apothecary:

 

[QB] Other interesting mandrake quotes:

 

 

"Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan"

 

King Henry VI Part 2 Act 3. Scene II

 

---

etc.

A belief that the mandrake shrieked upon being uprooted persisted into the Renaissance period. This was believed to kill. Thus the quotation from Josephus (an ancient Jew) regarding the use of harvest dogs.

somebody should call mythbusters..

[Rev]

edit

Edited April 21, 2007 by Rev

[t st tantra]

i smoke mandrake root and leaf fairly regularly for many reasons medical and recreational.

my first smoke of one match head of grated root releaved pain and put me to sleep 1/3 of the way through! heavy hangover reduces with regular use,my dose now up to 3 match heads.

erowid had an experience report in which a non mandrake user adds a gram of root to ayahuasca.

while very intense the experience was not life threatening!

my thinking is that active doses are very low,moderate doses produce the classic 'trip' and deadly doses are prob so high they would not be consumable from usual plant sources.

most deaths seem to have come from pharmaceutical preparations.

for me the dose is so low ever a tinture is overkill.and also the issue of smoking being the best way to regulate tropane dose.

t s t .

[apothecary]

I'm falling in love with low dose tropanes also.

Smoking it is great fun. I've found that if you pick leaves off plants like Brugmansia while they are young you can smoke with impunity and the most you get from it is somewhere between 4 beers and 2 joints ...I think it's referred to as "datura stoned".

You feel kind of stoned, but kind of drunk, with the seedy feeling of neither.

"apothecary - taking threads on tangents since 1999"

[Torsten]

I am really happy to see more people utilising tropanes in a sensible way. We need to keep this information out there in contrast to the fear mongering about these plants.

[caludia]

torsten are your mandrakes either seed or plant going to be cheaper than $16.50 plus $1 postage?

i need to know in... ohh, say within 5 hours and 23 minutes?

ebay

[planthelper]

mg, that was it, i got none left, if something comes up, i send it your way and prol others.

mandrake seems to be happ selfpoinating thought.

i have to contact this botanical garden where i got them from anyway sooner or later, so if i get them again mg and tort will be recievers.