An annual or biennial, growing to 60-90 cm (2-3 ft.), it has a rank, unpleasant smell and coarsely toothed, grey-green, sticky leaves. Bell-shaped, creamy-yellow flowers, veined with purple, grow from the leaf axils and appear throughout the summer, followed by fruit capsules containing many seeds.
History and traditions
This is a poisonous herb with a long history. It appears in the works of Dioscorides, Pliny and other classical writers as a sleep-inducing and pain-relieving drug and is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon herbals under the name of “Henbell”. In Greek mythology the dead, consigned to the underworld kingdom of Hades, were crowned with wreaths of henbane. Its narcotic properties, inducing giddiness and stupor, made it a sought-after herb for witches’ brews and sorcerers’ spells. It is thought to have provided the “leprous distilment” poured into the ear of Hamlet’s father as he lay sleeping. Seventeenth-century herbals recognized its deadly nature, recommending it for external use only, and dental practitioners of the time burned seeds of henbane in chafing dishes to produce analgesic fumes as they treated their patients.
Growth
Grow in poor, stony or sandy soils. Propagated from seed sown in situ in spring, often self-seeds.
Parts used
Leaves, flowering tops dried for use by the pharmaceutical industry.
Uses
Medicinal
It contains toxic alkaloids hyoscyamine, hyoscine and atropine (as in Atropa bella-donna) which affect the central nervous system. These constituents are included in some pharmaceutical drugs for asthma and nervous disorders. Also for muscle spasms and tremors as suffered in senility and diseases associated with old age.
