![]() ![]() ![]() As a plant with the shape of a human body, the mandrake was believed to exercise control over the body: it could induce love or conception, or bring good fortune, wealth and power. Over the centuries, legends surrounding the mandrake’s different sexes and human shape grew stronger, reinforced by the medieval doctrine of signatures, which claimed that plants that resembled certain body parts could be used to treat ailments of those body parts. He describes a “male” and “female” mandrake, though we know today that he was describing two different species, Mandragora officinalis and Mandragora autumnalis.įrom a seventh-century manuscript of Dioscurides’ De Materia Medica. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons) Dioscurides is one of the first and most important references on the mandrake plant, documenting its appearance along with its medicinal uses. ![]()
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