belladonna

/bel'euh don"euh/, n.

1. Also called deadly nightshade. a poisonous plant, Atropa belladonna, of the nightshade family, having purplish-red flowers and black berries.

2. Pharm. a drug from the leaves and root of this plant, containing atropine and related alkaloids: used in medicine to check secretions and spasms, to relieve pain or dizziness, and as a cardiac and respiratory stimulant.

[1590-1600; < It bella donna lit., fair lady (so called because it is said to have been used by women to dilate the pupils of the eyes and to create an artificial pallor). See BELLE, DONNA]

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Tall, bushy, herbaceous plant, the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), of the nightshade family; also, the crude drug consisting of its dried leaves or roots.

The plant is a native of wooded or waste areas in central and southern Eurasia. It has dull green leaves, violet or greenish flowers, shiny black berries about the size of cherries, and a large, tapering root. Belladonna is highly poisonous and is cultivated for medicinal substances (alkaloids) that are derived from the crude drug and used in sedatives, stimulants, and antispasmodics. Because of toxicity and undesirable side effects, however, these substances are being replaced by synthetic drugs.

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▪ plant

 tall bushy herb, the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), of the family Solanaceae (order Solanales), and the crude drug consisting of its dried leaves or roots. The plant, which grows to about 1.5 metres (4–5 feet) tall, is a native of wooded or waste areas in central and southern Eurasia. It has dull green leaves, violet or greenish flowers in the axils of the leaves or in the forks of branches, shiny black berries about the size of cherries, and a large tapering root.

      Belladonna is highly poisonous and is cultivated in France and elsewhere for the medicinal alkaloids hyoscyamine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and atropine, which are derived from the crude drug and are used in sedatives, stimulants, and antispasmodics. Because of toxicity and undesirable side effects, these alkaloids are being superseded by synthetic drugs.

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