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Poison by any other name
The UK is home to many poisonous plants. Some like laburnum, laurel and foxgloves you may have growing in your garden. Others like hemlock, angel’s trumpet and mandrake you may know only by reputation, but it is possible to find these plants growing in the UK: deadly nightshade (belladonna) is allowed to grow in the ruins of Bradgate House; birthwort (aristolochia) grows at Godstow Nunnery; and there is a collection of poisonous plants cultivated in the Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle.
These plants have been used through time to eliminate people inconvenient to the poisoner.
In ancient Greece and Rome, hemlock and wolf’s bane were the poisons of choice. This was due to their prevalence as an available medicine: hemlock was used to reduce swelling; wolf’s bane was used to treat head colds. Socrates was famously ordered to drink hemlock when he was found guilty of heresy.
In medieval times, deadly nightshade and mandrake could be inconspicuously grown in rural areas. Deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna) was commonly used as a kind of make-up which made eyes appear wider and made cheeks redder, however, too much can cause blindness and death. Mandrake plants grew wild in Southern Europe, but contact with the roots can cause liver and kidney failure.
