Mandrake Root - what is it?

[Taverner]

[Deja Q]

1. /

Or maybe /root
or maybe /home/root

If we're talkin' the Linux distro... :evilgrin:

[Orrex]

2. Well, do you know a guy who was recently hanged?

That's a start, or so saith the lore...

[yewberry]

3. Root of a nightshade.

It's a poisonous plant.

The root can split, so it can kind of look like a human figure (or just the lower parts). It's sort of turnip-looking.

It was believed to aid fertility (thus the Donne poem) and was once believed to scream (and madden or kill) if it was pulled from the ground. Some traditions say that it grows where the semen of hanged men touches the ground. Ew.

Kind of a neat history.