“Speaking about cyanide and arsenic has made me realize how much I also use atropa belladonna.”
Atropa belladonna is a Eurasian perennial with reddish, bell-shaped flowers that bear glossy-coated, black berries. Other names for the plant include belladonna, deadly nightshade, devil’s berries, naughty man’s cherries, death cherries, beautiful death, and devil’s herb. The plant earns its sinister nicknames, as its foliage and berries are extremely toxic, containing potent dosages of tropane alkaloids. Its most common name, belladonna, derives from Italian, meaning “beautiful woman.” Historically, women have used the herb’s oil to dilate and enlarge the pupils for seductive effect. But it’s best known as the plant of choice for assassins through history.
A native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, the herb grows wildly in many parts of the United States, mostly in dumps, quarries, near old ruins, under shade trees, or atop wooded hills. Belladonna is a branching plant that often grows to resemble a shrub of about 4 feet in height within a single growing season. Its leaves are long, extending 7 inches, and its bell-shaped flowers are purple with green tinges, about an inch long. The fruit and berries appear green when growing, but, as the toxins get stronger in the ripening stage, turn a shiny black color. Belladonna blooms in midsummer through early fall, and its roots are thick, fleshy, and white, growing to about 6 inches or more in length.
Deadly nightshade is one of the most toxic plants in the Eastern Hemisphere. While the roots are the most deadly part, the poisonous alkaloids run through the entirety of the plant. Scopolamine and hyoscyamine are among these toxins, both of which cause delirium and hallucinations. Deadly nightshade berries pose the greatest danger to children, as they are attractive and are deceptively sweet at first bite. Yet just two berries can kill a child who eats them, and it takes only 10 or 20 to kill an adult. Likewise, consuming even a single leaf can prove fatal to humans. Cattle, horses, rabbits, goats, and sheep can eat deadly nightshade without ill effect, though many pets are vulnerable to its lethal effects.
Belladonna contains several tropane alkaloids, some of which are capable of blocking neurotransmitters in the central and peripheral nervous system. In this way it disrupts heart rate, breathing, sweating, and the involuntary movement of smooth muscles in the gastrointestinal tract. Someone suffering from belladonna poisoning can exhibit a loss of balance, sensitivity to light, slurred speech, hallucinations, and confusion. Due to the psychological effects, belladonna and related plants have been used as recreational drugs—a highly dangerous choice due to the exceptional risk of overdose and death. Still, others find it an effective anesthesia for surgery, as numbness and drowsiness are side effects of its toxic mix.
Symptoms of deadly nightshade poisoning present quickly, so if medical aid is far off, drink a large glass of warm vinegar or a mixture of mustard and water, which may dilute and neutralize its toxicity.
Belladonna is rightfully known as the plant used most throughout the history of stealth assassination. Spies, as well as taste-testers hired by kings and the wealthy to sample food for poisons, learned that it’s possible to develop a tolerance to belladonna. By exposing himself to the toxins by taking small sips of a brew made from the plant over time, an assassin could demonstrate a drink was safe to consume, and his mark would swallow the poison willingly. Made from the plant’s berries, such a drink retains a sweet taste, and can pass as a fermented beverage.
“There is another poison one should take note of, and it is called Strychnine. I do not use it as much, but the last person to warrant this has been made an example. I use it mainly for punishments—especially since the last boss I had before Giovanni also had a taste of this. Of course, for punishments nowadays, I mix it with something else.”
A common pesticide and rat poison, strychnine has been targeted by animal rights groups who say the poison can cause violent, inhumane death. Very few would disagree with their assessment. Strychnine kills by blocking the function of an inhibitory neurotransmitter present in the spinal cord and brain that is usually responsible for quelling motor nerves. Without this off switch, motor neurons run out of control and the victim suffers spastic, painful muscle contractions. These convulsions can lead to hyperthermia, exhaustion, and oxygen depletion that eventually leads to asphyxiation.
Rats aren’t the only ones at risk for strychnine poisoning, which can occur after ingesting or inhaling the white, odorless powder. Several murders throughout history have been attributed to the unsubtle poison, which has also snuck its way into some street drugs.
