Scopolia
# Scopolia

Scopolia is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe and Asia. The genus is named after Giovanni Scopoli (1723–88), a Tyrolean naturalist. The genus has a disjunct distribution, with two recognised species in Central to Eastern Europe, (including the Caucasus), and two species in East Asia. The two European species are:

* Scopolia carniolica Jacq. of Slovenia, Austria and the Carpathian Mountains
* Scopolia caucasica Kolesn. ex Kreyer of the Caucasus

and the two Asiatic species are:

* Scopolia lutescens Y.N. Lee of Korea
* Scopolia japonica Maxim. of Japan

The four species in the equally medicinal genus Anisodus

* Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim.) Pascher
* Anisodus luridus Link ex Spreng.
* Anisodus carniolicoides (C.Y.Wu & C.Chen) D'Arcy & Z.Y.Zhang
* Anisodus acutangulus C.Y.Wu & C.Chen

have in the past been placed in the genus Scopolia, as has the monotypic genus Atropanthe with its single species Atropanthe sinensis Pascher.

Scopolia carniolica - the longest-known species and the one with the westernmost distribution - is a creeping perennial plant, with light green leaves and dull reddish-purple flowers (cream in the attractive and more ornamental variety hladnikiana, sometimes cultivated as a decorative plant). Scopolia's extract (which contains a form of the alkaloid scopolamine) is used in at least one commercial stomach remedy (Inosea, produced by Sato Pharmaceutical). The extract is an anti-spasmodic in low doses and may be used to relax smooth muscle tissue or prevent motion-sickness-induced nausea; in higher doses, it is a poison having hallucinogenic and memory-inhibiting effects.

Other alkaloids found in Scopolia carniolica include cuscohygrine, hyoscyamine, and atroscine.

The coumarin phenylpropanoids umbelliferone and scopoletin have been isolated from the roots of Scopolia japonica.

## Comparison of Scopolia carniolica with Atropa belladonna

The existence of the synonym Scopolia atropoides (i.e. "Atropa-like Scopolia") for Scopolia carniolica demonstrates the perceived similarity between Scopolia carniolica and its better-known relative Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna). The most obvious dissimilarity lies in the respective fruits, that of Scopolia being a pyxidium (i.e. a dry, pot-like capsule with an operculum (lid)) while that of Atropa is a juicy, glistening, jet-black berry bearing a superficial resemblance to a cherry - indeed this pyxidium / berry dichotomy constitutes the feature separating the genus Atropa into a subtribe of its own within the Solanaceous tribe Hyoscyameae: all other genera in tribe Hyoscyameae have the same type of dry, pyxidial capsule as Scopolia. Other points of dissimilarity include:

* Pedicel type: Scopolia carniolica, long, slender and delicate / Atropa belladonna, shorter and broadening toward the calyx - particularly at fruiting.
* Calyx type: Scopolia carniolica, cup-shaped, with slight peaks rather than distinct lobes / Atropa belladonna distinctly lobed, the individual lobes somewhat leaf-like and these lobes spreading to make the calyx star-shaped in fruit.
* Colour of corolla: Scopolia carniolica, exterior: purplish-brown striped longitudinally with cream veins, interior: cream, except for some dark venation at the very base / Atropa belladonna, dull purple shading to green netted with darker veins at the base.
* Glabrescence / pubescence: Scopolia carniolica, glabrous (hairless), the corolla often having a glossy, "enameled" appearance / Atropa belladonna pubescent (hairy), the corolla and calyx being clothed in short trichomes (hairs) - though less so in those of its eastern subspecies A. belladonna ssp. caucasica.
* Corolla shape: Scopolia carniolica, simple, un-lobed, straight-sided bell / Atropa belladonna urceolate (= urn-shaped) bell bearing short but distinct lobes, somewhat recurved.
* Pistil: Scopolia carniolica, straight and shorter than corolla / Atropa belladonna, curved and exserted (=protruding beyond corolla).

## Gallery

* Scopolia carniolica fresh Spring growth with abundant flowers, old arboretum, Finland.
* Scopolia caucasica in flower, showing distinctive corolla shape - more flared than in other species
* Scopolia japonica (Common name in Japanese: 走りどころ Hashiri-dokoro), plant in flower, Korea.
* Scopoliae Rhizoma (root of Scopolia japonica)
