Editing Atropa (section)

{{Short description|Genus of plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Atropa belladonna (16421213557).jpg
|display_parents = 2
|taxon = Atropa
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] (1753)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1147 |title=''Atropa'' L. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2009-09-01 |accessdate=2010-01-30}}</ref>
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = 6, see text
|subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30016119-2 ''Atropa'' L.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 23 April 2024.</ref>
|synonyms = 
*''Belladona'' {{small|Mill. (1754), nom. superfl.}}
*''Pauia'' {{small|Deb & Ratna Dutta (1965)}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo/>
}}

'''''Atropa''''' is a genus of [[flowering plant]]s in the [[Solanum|nightshade]] family, [[Solanaceae]]: tall, [[calcicole]], herbaceous perennials ([[rhizomatous]] [[hemicryptophyte]]s), bearing large leaves and glossy berries particularly dangerous to children, due to their combination of an attractive, cherry-like appearance with a high toxicity.<ref>''A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants : A Handbook for Pharmacists, Doctors, Toxicologists, and Biologists'' by Frohne, Dietrich and Pfänder, Hans Jürgen of University of Kiel, translated from second German edition by Norman Grainger Bisset, London : a Wolfe Science Book and one of the volumes in the illustrated series Wolfe Atlases, pub. Wolfe Publishing Ltd. 1984.</ref> Atropa species favour temperate climates and alkaline soils, often growing in light shade in woodland environments associated with limestone hills and mountains.<ref>Flora Europaea, Tutin T.G., Heywood V.H. and Burgess N.A. pub. Cambridge University Press 2010 {{ISBN|0521154065}}</ref><ref>Flora Iberica http://www.floraiberica.es/floraiberica/texto/pdfs/11_134_10_Atropa.pdf</ref> Their seeds can remain viable in the soil for long periods, germinating when the soil of sites in which plants once grew (but from which plants have long been absent) is disturbed by human activity<ref>HERRERA, C.M.(1987). Distribucion, ecologia y conservacion de Atropa baetica Willk. (Solanaceae) en la Sierra de Cazorla. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 43(2):387-398. http://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2965654.pdf</ref> or by natural causes, e.g. the [[windthrow]] of trees (a property shared by the seeds of other Solanaceae in tribe Hyoscyameae e.g. those of [[Hyoscyamus]] spp., the henbanes).<ref>''Flora Britannica'' pps. 300-301, Mabey, Richard, pub. Sinclair-Stevenson 1996</ref> The best-known member of the genus Atropa is deadly nightshade (''[[Atropa belladonna|A. belladonna]]'') – the poisonous plant ''par excellence'' in the minds of many.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2014/08/18/poisonous_plants_belladonna_nightshade_is_the_celebrity_of_deadly_flora.html|title=Big, Bad Botany: Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), the Poisonous A-Lister|first=Michael|last=Largo|magazine=Slate |date=18 August 2014|accessdate=24 September 2018}}</ref> The pharmacologically active ingredients of Atropa species include [[atropine]], [[scopolamine]], and [[hyoscyamine]], all [[tropane alkaloid]]s having [[anticholinergic]], [[deliriant]], [[antispasmodic]] and [[mydriatic]] properties.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} The genus is named for Άτροπος (''[[Atropos]]'') – lit. 'she who may not be turned (aside)' – one of the [[Moirai|Three Fates]] and cutter of the thread of life / bringer of death – in reference to the extreme toxicity of ''A.belladonna'' and its fellow species – of which four others are currently accepted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Solanaceae/Atropa/|title=Atropa – The Plant List|website=theplantlist.org|accessdate=24 September 2018}}</ref><ref>The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae edited by Hawkes, J.G., Lester, R.N. and Skelding, A.D. (Linnean Society Symposium Series Number 7) Published for the Linnean Society of London by Academic Press 1979.</ref>

In some older classifications, the mandrake (''[[Mandragora officinarum]]'') has been placed in the genus ''Atropa'', under the binomial ''Atropa mandragora''.