The melon that dazes
The fruit of the mandrake smells pleasant and is yellow and round, so children sometimes eat it. But every part of the plant, especially the root, is poisonous; those who eat the fruit become dizzy and drunk. Baytop records that this is why in Silifke the plant is called “toskafakavunu” (the melon that dazes). In the same area it is also called “atelması” and “ittaşağı.”
Source: Turhan Baytop, Türkiye’de Bitkiler ile Tedavi: Geçmişte ve Bugün, 3. baskı (yay. haz. Feza Baytop Günergun), Nobel Tıp Kitabevleri, Ankara, 2021 (Baytop, Türkiye’de Bitkiler ile Tedavi (Plant Healing in Turkey), 2021). This is a folk record, not a treatment recommendation.
The root that screams when pulled