autumn mandrake

The boundary between the two species Mandragora autumnalis and Mandragora officinarum varies among authors, with some regarding them as the same species (see § Taxonomy below). Whatever distinction is used, plants of M. autumnalis are herbaceous perennials, with a large upright tap-root, often branched and sometimes shaped somewhat like a person. There is little or no stem, the leaves being borne in a basal rosette up to 60 cm (2 ft) across. The flowers are clustered at the centre of the rosette, each with five sepals, five petals and five stamens. Both the sepals and petals are fused at the base forming two five-lobed bell-shaped cups. The ovary has two chambers (locules) and a long style. The fruit is a fleshy berry with many seeds. For those authors who regard Mandragora autumnalis as the main species found around the Mediterranean, it has flowers varying in colour but typically violet or purple, 30–40 mm (1–2 in) long, and berries that are yellow or orange and egg-shaped, while the much less widespread Mandragora officinarum has somewhat smaller flowers, greenish-white in colour, and berries that are yellow and globe-shaped. Those who regard M. officinarum as the main species found around the Mediterranean, with M. autumnalis being found only in the Levant, use the size of the seeds as one of the distinguishing factors, those of M. …

In one treatment, Mandragora autumnalis is the main species of Mandragora found all around the Mediterranean, in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, southern Portugal, southern Spain, southern Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, being absent in northern Italy and a region on the coast of former Yugoslavia, where it is replaced by M. officinarum. In another treatment, Mandragora autumnalis is native only to the Levant (from Syria south to Israel and Palestine), the species found elsewhere around the Mediterranean being M. officinarum.