The WALA Plant Library
Mandrake

Synonyms for Mandrake: Mandragora, Mandragon, Alraun, Dudaim, Satan’s Apple, Little Gallows Man, Genie’s Eggs
Scientific Name: Mandragora officinarum L.
Family: Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)

Description:

A somewhat tough-looking plant, intimately bound up with the earth and with a name that is the stuff of legends: the mandrake. The leaf rosette of this perennial plant consists of leaves which can grow up to 50 cm long and look like wrinkled chard leaves. They have no stalks but rise immediately from the crown of the root. From the fourth year, it grows a thick cluster of whitish-green, campanulate flowers with five segments, which blossom from March to May. In early summer they are followed by round, yellow to yellowish-orange, plum-sized fruits (berries) which lie on the ground. Their appearance betrays their kinship to the tomato. When the fruits begin to ripen the leaves start to yellow. By the time the fruit is fully ripe the leaf rosette has completely withered away. The root of the mandrake can grow up to one metre long. It is knobbly, forked and has strong branch roots. The mandrake loves dry, sunny or semi-shady sites with light, sandy soil.