Deadly Nightshade (Astropa Belladonna)
Deadly nightshade or Astropa belladonna is a perennial herbaceous plant from the nightshade family Solanaceae. The Solanaceae family includes potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant. These plants are native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The foliage and berries of belladonna are extremely poisonous when ingested. It is the most toxic plant in the Western hemisphere. The devil’s berries contain a toxic alkaloid known as tropane. Around 10 berries are needed to kill humans but one leaf of deadly nightshade is enough to kill. The toxin affects the nervous system and can cause blurred vision or vision loss, hallucinations, headache, loss of speech, coma and death. Early humans and ancient Romans have used this plant to poison arrows and murder respectively.
