As silly as all of this sounds, most myths have some sort of basis in reality, and we should bear in mind that mandrakes are very poisonous. Other versions of the myth – which are referenced in the Harry Potter franchise among many others – state that a mandrake would scream at anybody trying to uproot it, and this scream could be fatal if precautions weren't made to protect the ears. The dog would be killed, but once uprooted, the plant could be used safely. Because of this, many alchemists' guides recommended tying the plant to a dog, and getting the dog to do it instead. Uprooting a mandrake was fraught with danger: it could only be pulled from the ground by the light of the moon, and even then, the act was liable to kill whoever uprooted it. Mandrakes were said to be connected with dark spirits of the earth, and so had to be handled with extreme caution. The myths varied and became greatly embellished over the years, but a few features came up time and time again. This similarity led to myths that mandrakes didn't just look like people they were people. Mandrake roots are very thick and are often forked in a way that makes them resemble a human torso and legs. but its chemical properties are just the tip of the iceberg.Īppearance counts, and it's the mandrake's unusual appearance that seems to have made it so mythologically significant. So, we already have some evidence that past cultures considered the mandrake to be a special, magical plant. Despite the use of mandrakes in the Bible itself, the medieval Church ultimately frowned upon possession of something so closely associated with magic and witchcraft: in 1431, this was actually one of the charges that led to Joan of Arc being burned as a witch. In addition, the chemicals produced by mandrakes can be hallucinogenic, and in a time when hallucinations and their causes weren't understood, these too would be considered to be the effects of magic.
Now, in the days when medicine and magic were all but the same vocation, it wasn't unusual for plants that were poisonous, or medically useful, or both, to be thought of as magical in some way. Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) and Dioscorides (40-90 AD) both noted the use of mandrake extracts as painkillers, while the Bible (in Genesis 30) mentions them as a cure for infertility.Īn illustration of a mandrake and its roots from Johannes Theodorus de Bry's Florilegium Renovatum et Auctum (1641)Īnd it's to ancient times we must go, to get to the root (if you'll pardon the pun) of the mysterious properties that have been ascribed to the mandrake. They're used to treat a wide range of conditions from asthma to Parkinson's disease, while in ancient times they were mostly used as a form of anesthetic, since disrupting the activity of the nervous system does have the effect of numbing pain. The plants most likely evolved these chemicals as a defense against being eaten, but in sufficiently small quantities, they can be used for medicinal purposes. Indeed, the most powerful anticholinergics known to exist actually come from mandrakes.
They produce a class of chemicals called anticholinergics, which interfere with the nervous systems of humans and other animals. Mandrakes have large, oddly-shaped roots, grow small, tomato-like berries in the spring, and are very poisonous. The plant in question is the mandrake: any one of the species belonging to the genus Mandragora. As it happens, though, Oddish is indeed based on an actual plant, albeit one that's been steeped in myth for thousands of years. You'd be forgiven for thinking that Oddish is too odd to be based on anything real. but if you try to pull it out of the ground by force, you're liable to get screamed at. At night, the moonlight prompts it to wander around. It's a strange, walking plant that hides underground in the daytime, its feet disguised as roots.
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