White Mandrake
Mandragora officinarum var. vernalis

This native of Southern Europe and long-time resident in many a witch's garden has a great variety of magickal uses. It has been part of flying ointments, made into poppets, worn in the cap for protection and love, carried for fertility, and consumed to induce love or lust. One of the baneful herbs, this Saturn plant is sacred to Hekate, but it is also associated with Diana, and Aphrodite as well as Mercury (apparently because of the androgynous shape of the root). Black mandrake's flowers are purple instead of white, as in M. officinarum (var. vernalis). The supposed difference in root color does not seem to hold true. This is also called Autumn Mandrake because it flowers in the fall instead of the summer, as does white mandrake (which is also known as Spring Mandrake [=vernalis]). The flowers die and turn into small yellow or orange fruits that some people make into a liqueur; apparently the ripe fruits do not have the same alkaloids as other parts of the plant. Information on alkaloid content is contradictory. Some say the leaves are safe, but an article described 15 people who had been hospitalized for eating the leaves, which they thought were spinach. The thick roots definitely contain tropanes, the same substances as in henbane and other nightshades, so don't chew them, as some sources recommend. The tropanes, which are deliriants, connect this plant to Saturn.

How to grow Black Mandrake: germinating these seeds by soaking them in cold water in the fridge for two weeks. Replace the water with new cold water daily to wash away the anti-germination chemicals that leach from the seed. I use an old vitamin bottle for this. They are slow to come up (some sources advise waiting a year before tossing them), but they will. Make sure they stay moist but not sopping and do not put them in direct sunlight. They do not come up all at once, like the seeds of bedding plants do. These are seeds of wild plants, so their germination is staggered. Plant in full shade in rich soil. Add peat to the soil to make it more acidic. If planting in a pot, make your own potting soil from 2 parts peat, 2 parts sand, and 1 part loam. Although the babies really seek out the sun, keep the plants in shade with perhaps morning sun, depending on how warm your climate is. Fertilize regularly. A foliar spray of a solution of liquid kelp and fish meal is good. They don't like being wet, but they will become dormant if they don't get enough water (or if it's too hot or too cold or not the right time of year--this is a very persnickety plant). Check the undersides of the leaves for aphids regularly, and use Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of them if they turn up. Once you get a mandrake going, you can propagate it by dividing its roots in the late autumn. It's winter hardy only in zones 8-11, the Deep South and the Northwest. Farther north, try growing on the south side of the house against the wall and either put them in a cold frame in the winter or keep them in a pot and take them into the garage or basement for the winter (don't water while the plant is dormant). This plant needs plenty of pot length to make a good root. Otherwise, the root will twist all around upon itself and the plant will go dormant. You can plant several together in a large pot, so that they have plenty of room to grow down. The root can get over four feet long. The plant seems to sense when the root is getting near the bottom of the pot and quits growing; the leaves become weak and fall off. I had some in a very large pot, but they still stopped growing at a certain point. When I dug them up, I found that the end of the root was an extremely long thread that had obviously hit the bottom. Cramped roots become spirals. Planting in lengths of sewer pipes or garbage cans with holes in the bottom might be a way to remedy this. Planting in the ground is better if you have good soil, but it is very difficult to dig up the root without breaking it. Even turning the soil out of a pot all in one piece and gently pushing away the dirt resulted in a broken root or two. The plant probably uses this brittle root strategy to propagate itself, since pieces of root will make a new plant (this usually takes 3-4 months, and I have some roots in the ground that are a year old that are not dead but that haven't produced any top growth either). One possibility is to dig a good deep hole for your plant and fill it with a fine soil mix that will make digging up easier. Then water very heavily just before you dig up the root. This will allow it to come free more easily.You can also cut the roots and plant them to make more plants for the following year. In fall, cut the root into 1-2 inch long pieces. On each piece, cut the upward part straight across, and cut the lower part on an angle. Dip in rooting hormone and plant in soil in a sheltered spot or in a pot. Cover with sand. These will grow into new plants the following spring