Alkaloid ("Agonopterix alstroemeriana)." This moth feeds on its highly toxic and alkaloid-rich host plant poison hemlock ("Conium maculatum") during its larval stage. "A. asltroemeriana" may benefit twofold from the toxicity of the naturally-occurring alkaloids, both through the unpalatability of the species to predators and through the ability of "A. alstroemeriana" to recognize "Conium maculatum" as the correct location for oviposition. Medical use of alkaloid-containing plants has a long history, and, thus, when the first alkaloids were isolated in the 19th century, they immediately found application in clinical practice. Many alkaloids are still used in medicine, usually in the form of salts,
Mandragora (genus) for example, bryony ("Bryonia") is explicitly mentioned as the source of a "mandrake" or "mandragora" in some sources. Mandragora (genus) Mandragora is a plant genus belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Members of the genus are known as mandrakes. There are between three and five species in the genus. The one or two species found around the Mediterranean constitute the mandrake of ancient writers such as Dioscorides. Two or three further species are found eastwards into China. All are perennial herbaceous plants, with large tap-roots and leaves in the form of a rosette. Individual flowers are bell-shaped, whitish through to