Dictionary   FastHealth  Email This!

 


At·ro·pa

n :  a genus of Eurasian and African herbs (as belladonna) of the family Solanaceae that have entire leaves, a usu. bell-shaped calyx and corolla, and a fruit that is a berry and that are a source of medicinal alkaloids (as atropine and scopolamine)
At*ro*pos Greek mythological character. The three Fates of Greek mythology were pictured as old women who spun out every person's destiny as if it were a thread. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis measured it out, and Atropos cut it off. Belladonna was the first plant to be named in the genus Atropa. As the plant is highly poisonous, the genus was appropriately named after the goddess who cut the thread of life.

 
 

 
Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.  © 1997-2024.







               



               



Lillian M. Hudspeth Memorial Hospital (Sonora, Texas - Sutton County)