Atropa baetica 'Iberian Belladonna'

Solanaceae: a rare perennial to 60 cm tall, hardy to zone 7-8, yellow flowers from July which are followed be large black berries, can be found in growing in undergrowth, rocky or stony, sunny, dry slopes in disturbed soils and limestone nitrified, native to central and southern Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, and possesses higher alkaloid content (with only a little scopolamine) than that of Atropa belladonna.

GROWING INFORMATION:

A very rare and extremely hard to get a hold of, but thankfully it is easily grown from seed, I’m not entirely sure of its hardiness, as I have not risked growing them outside fearing they may rot with the wet, they were kept in the polytunnel on the dry side, all survived.

The seeds from this species are slower to germinate and the seedling grow slow, but once established they are quite vigorous, well-drained soil and full sun. They don't like high humidity.

All seeds from this species will need a cold treatment or a soak in GA3 [Gibberellic acid] before they will successfully germinate, germination is about 4 weeks.

Seeds can either be mixed with a little damp sand in a sealed bag and placed in the fridge for 4-6 weeks or you could try soaking the seeds in a solution of [Gibberellic acid], which can be found on eBay and other online retailers, this works really well with many plants of the Solanaceae family.

HARVESTED: 2023

 

APPROX. 50 SEEDS