TQ2777 : Deadly Nightshade at Chelsea Physic Garden
taken 15 years ago, near to Chelsea, Kensington And Chelsea, England
Deadly Nightshade at Chelsea Physic Garden
In the garden there are beds containing plants useful in various areas of medicine - e.g. gastroenterology, dermatology - and two in which Deadly Nightshade is useful - cardiology and opthalmology. In the latter, opthalmic surgeons use atropine from deadly nightshade - Atropa Belladonna - to dilate the pupil for access to the back of the eye. In cardiology, atropine is used to speed up the heart rate. There are many uses in traditional medicine - and as its name implies it is poisonous.
The park was first laid out in 1856-57 by dumping what was excavated from the Royal Victoria Dock into what was then unreclaimed swamp. [VISITOR's LONDON, 1973]