MANDRAKE
(Heb. “duda’i”, “apple of love”).
This odorous plant was supposed to act as a filter of love, and to have fertilizing virtues (Gen. 30:14-16; cf. Song 7:14).
The mandrake (“Mandragora Officiarum”) is a beautiful nightshade with large leaves, with pale violet, white, or dark blue flowers. Its fruit is small, golden yellow.
The fork-shaped root vaguely resembles two legs. The mandrake grows in the Jordan Valley, next to the tributaries of this river, in the fields of Moab, Gilead and in Galilee. The leaves are more poisonous than those of nightshade.