#mandrakes

botanical illustrations (aloe, dill, black henbane, rose, apium, mandrake, water lily, meadow sage)

from a manuscript of johann hartlieb’s kräuterbuch (book of herbs), a treatise dealing with the medicinal uses of various plants. this copy was created in northern bavaria, c. 1462

DigiMonday - ALRAUMON

(Child Level/Data Attribute/Plant Type)

Essentially just a paler, purple-flowered variant of Palmon, there isn't all that much that sets Alraumon apart from its more famous lookalike, at least at a glance; even its official description in the Digimon Encyclopedia consists more-or-less exclusively of ways in which the two are similar. There is one unique detail that Alraumon has going for it, though - the rather interesting etymology of its name. Wikimon suggests that the name Alraumon may be taken from the German word alraúne, which is one of several names for a very interesting genus of plants that carry a lot of importance in many European myths and legends; mandrakes!

(An Autumn Mandrake (Mandragora autumnalis) pictured in Cádiz, Spain, image source here.)

Belonging to the genus Mandragora in the family Solanaceae (the same family as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and nightshades,) there are at least 3 different species of mandrake; the Mediterranean Mandrake (found in areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea,) the Autumn Mandrake (which grows in similar areas as well as Morocco, Portugal and Spain) and the Himalayan Mandrake (adapted to life at high altitudes in the Alps, China and Myanmar.) Above-ground their most distinctive traits are their extremely short stems (so tiny and stumpy that their leaves appear to sprout straight from the ground) and their crown of pale purple flowers (which might be the inspiration behind Alruamon's colouration, at least in part.) Perhaps their most curious trait, however, is found beneath the ground; like many plants found in open, frequently disturbed habitats mandrakes have a large central root (called a tap root) which allows them to store nutrients and anchors them firmly into the ground. If your interests lie more in mythology than in botany a mandrake's huge taproot may be familiar to you, as in many regions of western Europe the twisted roots of mandrakes were thought to resemble tiny human bodies hidden below the soil (leading to a mythological depiction of mandrakes as plant-human hybrids that would respond to being pulled from the ground by emitting a lethal scream!)

(A real mandrake root and a wood print of a "human mandrake", image sources here and here respectively.)

Today this mythologised version of a mandrake is probably more familiar to most people than any real mandrake species, and indeed its thought that the folkore around mandrakes may be the origin of their name (being a portmantue of "man" and "drake" (as in dragon), illuding to their alleged humanoid form and supernatural properties.) Medieval European herbalists also attribute quite a few uses to mandrake roots (including facilitating pregnancy, treating insomnia and even creating drafts that could cause people to fall in love,) although needless to say all of these claims are unproven and highly dubious (these were the same people who claimed that these very much immobile, harmless plants could only be safely harvested under moonlight and recommended using a dog to yank them from the ground so that it could face their killing scream in your place, leading one to wonder if they'd ever even seen a real mandrake.) Modern ethnobotanists (folks who research human-plant interactions) have pointed out that all parts of mandrakes except for their yellow, tomato-like berries are packed with highly toxic alkaloids and can nausea, confusion and hallucinations if ingested, and have suggested that these hallucinogenic effects may go some way to explain the alleged magic surrounding mandrakes. None-the-less, the image of a mandrake as a freaky little humanoid plant beast remains prolific in fantasy media, and may have played some role in inspiring the archetype of plant-headed humanoid creatures in pop culture, including-but-not-limited to Palmon and Alraumon themselves.

(A very polygonal Alraumon from Digimon World 2, image source here.)

Like many recoloured variants of existing Digis Alraumon debuted as an unobtainable enemy in 1999's Digimon World. Since then its appearances have been limited mainly to collectables (both real and digitally as in-game tokens,) but it has had a few more major appearances (finally being raisable in Digimon World: Next Order, and eventually getting a card of its own in the Digimon TCG.)

if not... how did he know about cutting the mandrakes' heads?

I don't think so cause he most likely would have died from their scream being so close? Marcille was only "fine" because the giant bat was far from her with the screaming mandrake for most of it.

My best guess is that it was one of the things he learned from the orcs! He says "As well as how to interact with monsters" I imagine that includes catching them to eat or at least how to not die to them (Senshi had never died before he joined Laios' party)

Also I wonder how they continued to get the mandrakes after this one, cause they have their heads intact when they eat them again as candied mandrakes (I assume at least by what they look like. Edit: the ones senshi cuts in ch4 have their "lower jaw" cut off while marcille's had a full head, that's why I assume so) maybe they just really did just use a long rope? I don't remember if it gets mentioned.

There are some people out there who keep plants the same way that other people keep pets and if you think of it, a mandrake would be the perfect middle ground, huh?