On 21 Feb 04 at 17:25, Brian Whyer wrote: > Can someone tell me if Mandragora officinarum is self fertile. > Should I be out there in the cold tickling it to help it along. It > has looked like this link > http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/allgemei… > mand ra-o.jpg for some weeks and has several flowers to "open" yet. > It reminds me of Audrey2 in the film Little Shop of Horrors, but I > have not heard it scream yet. My impression (not one formed by careful scientific observation, admittedly) is that the mandrakes need a bit of warmth to be fertilized. As far as I know they are self fertile -- after all, they are solanaceous and that family is not known for self-sterility. If your plants are young, don't expect fruit. Mine have taken 5 to 10 years to reach the fruiting stage. BTW, does anyone grow Mandragora officinarum ssp. haussknechtii? And does anyone know a *good* modern treatment of genus Mandragora? The references I have are totally confusing. On 21 Feb 04 at 17:48, John Grimshaw wrote: > Mandragora officinarum is self-fertile - at least my solitary plant > sets a good crop of fat fruits each year. I assume the bees do the > job of pollination. How to get the seed to germinate is another > matter! In the first edition of his Gardening Dictionary, Miller says the seeds must be fresh; but my plants all originated from exchange seed sown long after harvest. Sow the silly things, put the pot in a coldframe, and wait. They'll come up. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island