Herbs in History: Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal CONTENTS From India to the Mediterranean? First Things First Searching for Withania somnifera Checking the Ancient Documentation An Indian Introduction? References

By Alain Touwaide & Emanuela Appetiti | July 2024

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From India to the Mediterranean?

Illustration 1: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanaceae) is currently most known as ashwagandha according to its designation in the Indian tradition, especially Ayurvedic medicine. In English, it is called Indian ginseng, Withania, and winter cherry (Illustration 1).
 
Whereas its presence in traditional Indian medicine is widely acknowledged, its use, knowledge in the Mediterranean medical history and, going even further deep, its presence in the ancient Mediterranean environment is still the object of discussion.
 

First Things First

Withania somnifera is an evergreen undershrub that can reach over 3 feet high (1 meter) by 1 foot 8 inches wide (0.5 meter) that grows in open places in a great variety of soils, preferably dry and stony, disturbed environments, fully exposed to the sun. It is easily propagated from seeds and grows well.
 
Its current distribution goes mostly from Spain to North-Central China and from Eastern Africa to South-Central China (Illustration 2) or, depending on the source, from almost all Africa and the Mediterranean to China (Illustration 3). Since its presence in Greece—which is particularly relevant here—has been questioned, it is worth noticing that the plant is currently present in the country, including Crete and the Aegean Islands (Illustration 4).
 

Illustration 2: Current distribution of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal according to Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Illustration 3: Current distribution of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal according to Plants of the World Online (POWO)		Illustration 4: Current distribution of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal in Greece according to the Flora of Greece web. Vascular Plants of Greece. An Annotated Checklist

The phytonym Withania somnifera (L.) Dun. (or Dunal) is somewhat mysterious and possibly also unclear. This is particularly the case when it is followed, as it often happens, by the mention “First published in A.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(1): 453-454 (1852)”, giving the impression that the author of the designation was the well-known French botanist Alphonse de Candolle and not Dunal, as per the rule of the botanical code according to which the name following a binomial designation is that of the author of the identification of the plant. Adding to the complexity of the matter, the binomial designation Withania somnifera (L.) Dun. is considered to be a synonym of Physalis somnifera L. To clarify this, an investigation into the modern nomenclatural history of winter cherry will be useful.
 
The genus Withania was published as a new one among the Solanaceae in the 1825 monograph on belladonna (deadly nightshade) by the French scientist Charles-Louis-Constant Pauquy (1800-1854). The son of a pharmacist, Pauquy first prepared himself to walk in the footsteps of his father and enrolled in the College of Pharmacy until he moved to the Medical School. While still in Pharmacy, he was awarded the First Prize of the annual Contest in Botany in 1821. In 1825, he submitted a thesis on belladonna for the degree of Doctor of Medicine (De la Belladone, considéré dans ses rapports botanique, chimique, pharmaceutique, pharmacologique et thérapeutique, etc. Thèse … Paris: Didot le Jeune, 1825) (Illustration 5).
 
As the full title of the thesis makes it clear, Pauquy examined belladonna from the viewpoints of botany, chemistry, pharmacy, pharmacology, therapeutics, and unspecified others. In the Botany section, he offered a review of the full family of Solanaceae. There, he identified specific characters that allowed him to define a new genus (Illustration 6): Withania, with two species: W. frutescens and W. aristata, corresponding to the previous species Atropa frutescens L. and A. aristata L.
 

Illustration 5: Charles-Louis-Constant Pauquy, La Belladone, consideree dans ses rapports botanique, chimique, pharmaceutique, pharmacologique et therapeutique, et; These Presentee et soutenue a la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, le 2 avril 1825 … Paris: Imprimerie Didot Le Jeune, 1825		Illustration 6: Pauquy table with the characterisits of Withania somnifera in the lower part

The name of the genus is a reference to the British amateur-geologist and palaeo-botanist Henry Silvertop (1779-1844). The extravagant son of a wealthy family, Silvertop married Eliza Witham in 1800, and inherited both the name and coat of arms of the family and identified himself as Henry Witham. Since he squandered his fortune, he fled to Edinburgh to escape creditors. There, he became interested in the fossilized trees discovered in the city and published in 1831 Observations of Fossil Vegetables, which became a reference for the study of plant fossils.
 
The genus Withania was not further treated until 1852, however. Only that year did the French botanist of Montpellier Michel Félix Dunal (1789-1856) offer its first full study. This study was not published as a monograph in its own right, but in the magisterial 17-volumes Prodromus Sytematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis (Introduction of the System of the Natural Plant Reign) initiated by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778-1841) and interrupted by his death after seven volumes were published. This grandiose work was pursued, and completed with 10 more volumes, by de Candolle’s son Alphonse Pyramus (1806-1893).
 
The genus Withania was treated in volume 13.1 published in 1852, pp. 1-673, with corrections and additions by Dunal and de Candolle on pp. 673-677, plus errata and corrigenda on pp. 677-692. Withania somnifera is described in pp. 453-454 (Alphonse de Candolle [ed.], Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis …, Pars decima tertia, Sectio prior … Parisiis: Sumptibus Victoris Masson, 1852).
 
In fact, this was not the first description of winter cherry. Withania somnifera as characterized by Dunal corresponds to Physalis somnifera as described by Carl Linnaeus in Species plantarum (tome 1, 1753, p. 182) in the genus Physalis. In Species plantarum, the Linnean genus Physalis made of 9 species was comprised after the genera Datura, Hyoscyamus, Nicotiana, Mandragora, and Atropa, and before the more important genus Solanum that totals 23 species, all making the Solanaceae family. In concluding the characterization of Physalis somnifera, Linnaeus noted that it is so similar to the previous genus (Atropa) that it can hardly be distinguished.
 

Searching for Withania somnifera

After the publication of Linnaeus’ Plant species, several scientists and historians of ancient medicine and botany sought to identify the plants mentioned in the Greek and Latin medico-botanical literature according to Linnaeus’ system. Locating Withania somnifera was not easy.
 
The Linnean phytonym Physalis somnifera—which was the pre-Dunal binomial designation of winter cherry as we have seen—seemed to apply to the ancient Greek phytonym struchnos upnôdês (or struchnon upnôtikon), which can be aptly translated as sleep-inducing struchnos, according to such physicians, botanists and historians of botany as the German Kurt Sprengel (1766-1833) in his Historia rei herbariae (History of Botany), the Oxonian Charles Daubeny (1795-1867), and the French Edmond Bonnet (1848-1922).
 
After Dunal’s treatment of the Solanaceae family, historians rightly identified the same Greek phytonym as corresponding to Withania somnifera. The British schoolmaster, gardener, editor and translator of Theophrastus, Arthur Hort (1864-1935) opened the way. He was followed by the Catalan botanist, chemist and pharmacist Pio Font Quer (1888-1964) and, more recently, by the Greek historian of pharmacy Evangelia Varella.
 
The Greek physician, historian of Byzantine medicine, and professor at Athens University Emmanuel Emmanuel (1886-1972) recognized the characteristics of Withania somnifera in the description of another plant described in the ancient Greek literature: the plant named alikakkabos in ancient Greek.
 
Before him, however, Kurt Sprengel had identified this plant as Physalis alkekengi L. Charles Daubeny recognized this Linnean species in the description of the plant named struchnon alikakkabon in ancient Greek. He was followed by the German pharmacist and historian of pharmacy Julius Berendes (1837-1914), and scientists mentioned above: Edmond Bonnet, Pio Font Quer and Evangelia Varella.
 
Finally, Kurt Sprengel identified the Greek plant physalis upnôdês (or upnôtikon) as Solanum villosum (Lmk) in his edition of Theophrastus, whereas Berendes (1837-1914) and the German mycologist Sebastian Killermann (1870-1956) identified it as Solanum dulcamara L.
 
In these several works, the ancient Greek phytonyms are physalis upnôdês (or upnôtikon), alikakkabos, and struchnon alikakkabon, and the Linnean binomial designations are Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (= Physalis somnifera L.), Physalis alkekengi L., Solanum villosum (Lmk), and Solanum dulcamara L.
 
It is worth noting that Physalis somnifera L. was located in Greece by the Oxonian botanist and first post-Linnean explorer of Greek flora John Sibthorp (1756-1798) and included in his monumental and epoch-making Flora graeca published posthumously (vol. 3 [1819], pp. 27-28 and table 233) (Illustration 7), as was also Physalis alkekengi L. (vol. 3, [1819], pp. 28-29) (Illustration 8).
 

Illustration 7: John Sibthorp, Flora graeca, vol. 3, [1819], table 234: Physalis alkekengi L.		Illustration 8: John Sibthorp, Flora graeca, vol. 3, [1819], table 233: Physalis somnifera L.

 

Checking the Ancient Documentation

The ancient Greek works in which appear the plants corresponding to the identification above are mostly the Historia Plantarum (Inquiry into Plants) by Theophrastus (4th / 3rd cent. BCE) and De materia medica by Dioscorides (1^st cent. CE).
 
In Theophrastus, Historia Plantarum, we have the following description of struchnos upnôdês (IX,11.5):
 

Of the plants called struchnos ... The first (struchnos upnôdês) has a root which becomes red like blood as it dries, whereas it is white when just dug up. Its fruit is redder than oak-gall’s red, a leaf like that of the sweet apple, hairy. It has a thick stem.
        
[Healers] grind finely the bark of the root, mix it with pure wine and administer it; it induces sleep.

 
In Dioscorides (IV,72), the botanical description is followed by the enumeration of the therapeutic uses of the plant:
 

Struchnon upnôtikon. Some call it alikakkabon and some kakkalia. It is a shrub having many branches, thick, trunk-like, hard to break, full of bright leaves resembling those of quince, a red flower, large, a saffron-colour fruit in pods, a long root that has a reddish peel. It grows in stony places.
 
One drachma of its root’s peel drunk in wine has a soporific property, milder, however, than that of poppy’s sap. Its fruit is very diuretic. [Healers] give ca. 12 clusters [of the fruit] to hydropic patients. If more clusters are administered, they provoke hebetude. [Patients] are relieved by drinking abundant hydromel. Its peel is mixed also with analgesics and lozenges. Boiled in wine and held in the mouth, it helps for toothaches. The juice of the root allievates amblyopia anointed with honey.

 
About alikakkabos and struchnon alikakkabon (both identified as Physalis alkekengi L.), Dioscorides provides similar information (IV.71):
 

There is another struchnon which people call alikakkabon. It has leaves similar to those of struchnon (Solanum nigrum L.), but larger. When growing, its stems bend toward the ground. It has a fruit in round capsules similar to bladders, yellow-red, round, smooth like a grape, which wreathmakers plait in their wreaths.
 
Its property and use are the same as those of struchnon (Solanum nigrum L.) except that it is not eaten. Its fruit, when drunk, can clear jaundice, being diuretic.
 
The juice from the whole foliage of both plants (struchnon = Solanum nigrum L. and alikakkabos/struchnon alikakkabon = Physalis alkekengi L.) is dried in the shade for storage. It is active for the same conditions [above].

 
Whereas most diagnostic characters provided by both Theophrastus and Dioscorides fit the general profile of the Solanaceae, some specific characters allow for precise identification.
 
The description of the fruit of alikakkabos and struchnon alikkakabon as contained in “capsules similar to bladders” definitely confirms the generally accepted identification of that ancient plant as Physalis alkekengi L. (Chinese lantern) (Illustration 9).
 
Instead, the identification of struchnon upnôtikon as Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (= Physalis somnifera L.) seems problematic at first glance. As per Dioscorides, its flower is red, and not green-grey as it actually is (Illustration 10). Nevertheless, the colour of the fruit as per Dioscorides (saffron-colour) is correct (Illustration 11). However, the name of the plant itself (struchnon upnôtikon), literally meaning sleep-inducing, and the explicit reference to such an action by both Theophrastus and Dioscorides, correspond to the sedative effect of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal It is interesting to stress the comparison with poppy’s effect in Dioscorides, with struchnon upnôtikon being considered milder, probably sedative rather than hypnotic. Finally—and this is certainly not the least important diagnostic element—the part to be used and its preparation as per Theophrastus (the bark of the root ground and taken as a potion) matches well traditional and current uses.

Illustration 9: Chinese lantern	Illustration 10: Flower of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal	Illustration 11: Fruit of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal

Some of the manuscripts containing the Greek text of Dioscorides include colour representations of the plants treated in the text. These representations bring some clarification: alikakkabos and struchnon alikakkabon are? persistently represented with the typical fruit of Physalis alkekengi L. (Illustrations 12-14). For struchnon upnôtikon, illustrated manuscripts offer an image that visualizes the text, with a red flower (Illustrations 15) and, in the most recent, a clearer distinction of the fruit, which is red (Illustrations 16-17).
 

Illustration 12: Physalis alkekengi L. in manuscript of Naples, National Library, ex Vindob. gr. 1, f. 148 recto (7th cent., Southern Italy [?])		Illustration 13: Physalis alkekengi L. in manuscript of Padua, Library of the Seminary, 194, f. 169 recto (14th cent. Constantinople)		Illustration 14: Physalis alkekengi L., in manuscript of Vatican Library, Chisianus graecus F VII 159, f. 171 verso (15th cent., Constantinople)

 

Illustration 15: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal in manuscript of Naples, National Library, ex Vindob. gr. 1, f. 2 recto (7th cent., Southern Italy [?])		Illustration 16: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal in manuscript of Paris, National Library of France, graecus 2179, f. 102 verso (8th cent., Syria-Palestine [?])		Illustration 17: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, in manuscript in manuscript of Padua, Library of the Seminary, 194, f. 10 verso (14th cent. Constantinople)

An Indian Introduction?

If Withania somnifera (L.) Dunalwas present in the ancient Mediterranean World and used in medicine from the time of Theophrastus onward, one might want to investigate further back in time and go up to the time of the Hippocratic physicians, that is, up to the late 5^th century BCE.
 
Eight of the most ancient treatises of the vast Hippocratic Collection contain plants identified as species of the genus Solanum, especially Solanum nigrum L., black nightshade. These plants are named struchnon in ancient Greek, with the same generic name as the struchnon upnôtikon that we identify as Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal. The action of these struchnon plants in the Hippocratic writings is not specific, mostly analgesic and diuretic, and used in post-partum, hepatic, and inflammatory conditions.
 
It is only later that different species of the ancient Greek genus struchnon are distinguished, principally with the domestic species, the sleep-inducing one as above, and the manikon one, which means in a literal translation crazyness-producing and in a milder translation mind-disturbing. These distinctions can first be noticed in the writings of Theophrastus, that is, toward the beginning of the 3^rd century BCE.
 
The distinction of these species could certainly result from a better analysis and understanding of the ancient genus struchnos, with the identification of a genus (struchnos) and the distinction of species (domestic, sleep-inducing, mind-altering) in a way that is probably close to contemporary taxonomy. But the strong similarity between the information about struchnon upnôtikon reported by Theophrastus and, further on, by Dioscorides (though not with the exact same level of precision in the latter) on the one hand and, on the other, the Ayurvedic use of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal raises the question of an influence from India to the Mediterranean.
 
The military expedition to India led by Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) comes to mind. The chronology of the appearance of species of the genus struchnon (found in the literature from the writings of Theophrastus on) strongly supports such hypothesis, so more so because Alexander managed to have scientists accompanying his troops to explore and describe the natural environments that the troops were expected to cross. And these scientists did so, with the result that information about plants previously unknown to the Greek World were brought to Greece together with the plants themselves.
 
In the present case, it might be that Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal was not imported into Greece by Alexander’s troops and scientists as it is native to a vast region that includes Greece, but only its medicinal use as a sedative were introduced from India to Greece.
 
Judging from its effects on humans as described by Theophrastus and Dioscorides, this sedative use was investigated during the centuries between these two authors, with possibly comparative observations that led to establish that winter cherry has milder effects than those of poppy.

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