Editing Atropa

{{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''.

==Species==
Six species and one natural hybrid are accepted.<ref name = powo/>
* ''[[Atropa acuminata]]'' <small>[[John Forbes Royle|Royle]] ex [[John Lindley|Lindl.]]</small> &ndash; Indian belladonna/''maitbrand'' ([[Kashmir]] and adjoining regions of India, [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]], also N. [[Iran]]). Endangered.
* ''[[Atropa baetica]]'' <small>[[Heinrich Moritz Willkomm|Willk.]]</small> &ndash; Andalusian belladonna / ''tabaco gordo'' / ''tabba'' (S. and S.E. [[Spain]] and W. [[North Africa]]). Endangered.
* ''[[Atropa belladonna]]'' <small>[[L.]]</small> &ndash; Belladonna/deadly nightshade ([[Europe]], [[West Asia]] and North Africa). A very variable species with a very extensive distribution, the which factors have contributed to the description of species not currently accepted.
* ''[[Atropa indobelladonna]]'' {{small|Karthik. & V.S.Kumar}} – [[Arunachal Pradesh]] in the eastern Himalayas
* ''[[Atropa komarovii]]'' <small>Blin.& Shalyt</small> &ndash; [[Turkmenistan]] belladonna ([[Kopet Dag]] range dividing Iran from Turkmenistan and adjoining regions in N.E. (Caspian) Iran). Distinctive in that flowers borne singly.
* ''[[Atropa × martiana]]'' {{small|Font Quer}} (''A. baetica'' × ''A. belladonna'') – Morocco and east-central and southern Spain
* ''[[Atropa pallidiflora]]'' <small>[[Eva Schönbeck-Temesy|Schönb.-Tem.]]</small> &ndash; Hyrcanian belladonna ([[Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests]], notably those of [[Mazandaran province]], N. Iran, also Afghanistan).<ref>Rechinger, Karl Heinz and Schönbeck-Temesy, Eva 1972. Solanaceae. Nº 100 de Flora Iranica : Flora des iranischen Hochlandes und der umrahmenden Gebirge; Persien, Afghanistan, Teile von West-Pakistan, Nord-Iraq, Azerbaidjan, Turkmenistan. 102 pp.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/jart/prj3/nhm/data/uploads/Verlag/05a%20Flora%20Iranica%20volumes.pdf|title=Flora Iranica|website=nhm-wien.ac.at|access-date=12 September 2023}}</ref>

The genus ''Atropa'' is currently under review, so changes in nomenclature are likely, once said review is complete. It will be seen from the above that there is an overlap in the respective distributions of ''A. acuminata'', ''A. komarovii'' and ''A. pallidiflora'' in the lush Hyrcanian forests of Northern Iran, and it is possible that some or all of these species may yet be subsumed in the concept ''Atropa belladonna''. ''A. belladonna'' itself (including its variety ''caucasica'') is also present in the Hyrcanian forests and vol. 100 of Flora Iranica includes a useful key with which to distinguish the four species occurring in northern Iran. Data on ''A. pallidiflora'' and ''A. acuminata'' Royle ex Miers are neither abundant nor readily accessible on the Internet at present. The reported presence of an ''Atropa'' species in Mongolia is intriguing, given that country's relative remoteness from Kashmir and its (Kashmir's) well-attested population of ''Atropa acuminata'' Royle ex Lindl. The unequivocal presence of ''Atropa'' in the [[Eastern Himalaya]] would go at least some way to bridging the gap between Kashmiri and Mongolian populations of this genus. Some light might be cast upon this problem by the gaining of better knowledge concerning the rare and poorly-known species ''A. indobelladonna'', found in [[Arunachal Pradesh]] and adjoining areas of [[Assam]].  This was first described in 1961 under the name ''Pauia belladonna'', as the sole species of the  monotypic genus ''Pauia'', the specific name belladonna being bestowed by authors Deb and Dutta because of its partial similarity to Indian belladonna (''Atropa acuminata'' {{small|Royle ex Lindl}}).<ref>Armando T. Hunziker: The Genera of Solanaceae. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. {{ISBN|3-904144-77-4}}.</ref> In 2020 It was placed in genus ''Atropa'', on the strength of evidence scant, to say the least, and somewhat at variance with the original anatomical line drawings of the species. No photographic images of the species are currently viewable on the internet.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Atropa indobelladonna'' Karthik. & V.S.Kumar {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77214670-1|website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |access-date=25 April 2024|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161802}}

[[Category:Atropa| ]]
[[Category:Entheogens]]
[[Category:Solanaceae genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]