SPEC. 001

matsurika.moe

Digitalis purpurea

Family: Plantaginaceae Signal: cardiac glycoside

SPEC. 002

Atropa belladonna

Family: Solanaceae Signal: alkaloid cascade

SPEC. 003

Datura stramonium

Family: Solanaceae Signal: deliriant cascade

SCHEMATIC 01 / HERO

The botanical specimen is the schematic. Leaf veins are copper traces. Stem joints are via-holes. Roots are ground connections. The same information, two registers: one alive, one readable.

SPECIMEN 02 / DIGITALIS

Cardiac Signal

Digitalis purpurea

The foxglove plant synthesizes cardiac glycosides — molecules that inhibit the Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase pump in cardiac muscle cells. The effect: slowed conduction velocity, increased stroke volume. The margin between therapeutic and lethal dose is 2×.

In circuit terms: a feedback control loop operating at threshold. The plant's leaf is the register. The via-hole at the stem joint is the flip-flop. The flower is the output latch.

// Na⁺/K⁺ pump inhibition model

function inhibit(pump, glycoside) {
  const binding = pump.naK_site.bind(glycoside);
  if (binding.affinity > threshold) {
    pump.state = 'inhibited';
    return cardiac.increaseContractility();
  }
  return pump.nominal();
}

Leaf vein = copper trace. The branching structure of the foxglove leaf maps directly to a signal distribution network. Tertiary veins: 0.8px trace width.

SPECIMEN 03 / BELLADONNA

Alkaloid Cascade

Atropa belladonna

Belladonna produces atropine and scopolamine — anticholinergic compounds that block muscarinic receptors throughout the nervous system. Pupils dilate. Saliva production ceases. Tachycardia. A full system-state override.

The circuit analogue: a broadcast interrupt. A single signal that disables the peripheral bus and forces all channels into an unconfigured state.

// muscarinic receptor block

const atropine = new Antagonist({
  receptor: 'mAChR',
  selectivity: 'non-selective',
  halfLife_hours: 2.5
});
// Broadcast to all parasympathetic nodes
nervous_system.broadcast(atropine);

Berry cluster = component array. Each berry is a component node; the cluster maps to a register bank. Internal resistance: 47Ω nominal.

SPECIMEN 04 / DATURA

Deliriant Cascade

Datura stramonium

Jimsonweed carries tropane alkaloids in every tissue: seed, leaf, root, flower. The spiny seed pod is not decoration — it is the delivery mechanism. The seed pod's internal structure, viewed in cross-section, is a component footprint: four chambers, each an independent signal source.

The trumpet flower — five fused petals, a single corolla tube — is a trumpet-architecture bus: one input, wide output. The circuit maps it directly.

// Datura alkaloid profile

const alkaloids = {
  scopolamine: { conc_mg_per_g: 0.06 },
  atropine:    { conc_mg_per_g: 0.02 },
  hyoscyamine: { conc_mg_per_g: 0.15 }
};
// Uniform distribution across tissues
tissues.forEach(t => t.load(alkaloids));

METHOD 05 / ROOTS

Root System Architecture

Dependency graphs as ground planes

The root system of a plant is a dependency graph. Each lateral root is a module dependency. Each root tip is a leaf node. The taproot is the entry point. Ground connections in a circuit serve the same structural role: they terminate signals, provide reference, complete the loop.

matsurika.moe is a field guide for reading living systems as technical diagrams. Every specimen on this site has a corresponding schematic. The schematic is not a metaphor — it is a precise structural isomorphism.

Root junction = ground plane. Where lateral roots branch from the taproot, a via-hole is placed. The signal terminates here. The reference is set.