Deadly nightshade in purple & yellow

This deadly nightshade is based on an illustration from John Stephenson and James Morss Churchill’s 1834 book ‘Medical Botany; or, Illustrations and Descriptions of the Medicinal Plants of the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias: Comprising a Popular and Scientific Account of Poisonous Vegetables Indigenous to Great Britain’. Also know as Atropa bella-donna, or simply belladonna, the flowers come in a wide range of purples, with shading towards yellows and greens at the base.

The primary toxin in deadly nightshade is atropine, which also has a number of legitimate medical uses. The name comes from the Greek Fate ‘Atropos’, the goddess who would cut the thread of destiny to end a life. The signs of poisoning include blurred vision and light sensitivity, loss of balance, elevated heart rate, rash, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms, confusion and delirium, convulsions, and hallucinations. A tincture was once used by women to dilate their pupils, to imitate arousal.

My deadly nightshade is 4.25 inches tall, stitched by hand on 5x7 inch 100% cotton watercolour paper, which means that it will pop right into any commercial frame in that size, and be ready to hang on your wall.

Materials: Japanese paper and Korean papers, glass beads, and cotton floss on cotton paper.