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Hyoscyamus niger L.

Henbane (en), Jusquiame noire (fr), Herbe à la teigne (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Solanales > Solanaceae > Hyoscyamus

Characteristics

Herbs biennial, to 1 m tall, pubescent throughout with sticky glandular hairs. Roots sometimes stout, fleshy, 2-3 cm in diam. Leaves sessile, sometimes forming a rosette; blade of rosette leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, ca. 30 × 10 cm, coarsely dentate or pinnately lobed or parted, apex acute; blade of cauline leaves ovate or deltate-ovate, 4-10 × 2-6 cm, pubescent with sticky hairs, nearly clasping or broadly cuneate at base, lobed or entire. Flowers subsessile or on pedicels 3-5 mm. Calyx tubular-campanulate, 1-1.5 cm; lobes deltate, unequal, acute. Corolla pale yellow, usually with purple veins, campanulate, 2-3 cm. Stamens exserted. Fruiting calyx urceolate, 2-2.5 × 1-1.5 cm; lobes mostly erect, tipped with a sharp tooth. Capsules ovoid-rounded, ca. 1.5 × 1.2 cm. Seeds yellow-brown, discoid, ca. 1 mm in diam. Fl. May-Aug, fr. Jul-Oct.
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Annual or biennial, mostly densely hairy and glandular viscid; stems 30-60 cm tall. Lvs mostly sessile, but larger ones forming basal rosette with petiole several cm long; lamina 4-12 × 1.5-6 cm, ± ovate, coarsely dentate or lobulate; apex acute; midrib beneath hairy. Bracts leaflike. Fls subsessile, foetid. Calyx 1-1.5 cm long at anthesis, aristate, c. 2.5-3.5 cm long at fruiting, with a marked constriction below teeth, stiff and papery; tube campanulate at fruiting, pilose; teeth pungent. Corolla c. 2.5 × 2-3 cm diam., whitish or pale yellow with purplish veins in upper ⅔, dark purple in lower ⅓, becoming generally mauve or purplish when dry. Filaments white, glandular-hairy; anthers purple. Style purple. Capsule c. 1 cm diam., ± globose. Seeds ± reniform, strongly pitted.
Coarse, strong-scented biennial or annual to 1 m, conspicuously villous, especially the stem; lvs large, sessile, 5–20 × 2–14 cm, rather shallowly pinnatilobate, with unequal, triangular segments; mature cal 2.5 cm, urceolate, reticulate-veiny; cor 2.5–4.5 cm, nearly or quite as wide, prominently purple-reticulate on a pale, often greenish-yellow background, more distinctly purple in the throat; fr 1–1.5 cm, with a strongly thickened lid; 2n=34. Native of Europe, now established as a weed of roadsides and waste places in n. U.S. and s. Can., more especially westward. May–Sept. A source of hyoscyamine and scopolamine.
Foetid annual or biennial herb to 50 cm. Basal leaves ovate, petiolate, the lamina up to 13 cm long, with 2–4 triangular lobes on each side; cauline leaves smaller, sessile and stem clasping. Flowers subsessile. Calyx 10–15 mm long, the lobes triangular, 2–3 mm long. Corolla 20–30 mm diam., pale yellow with conspicuous purple veins. Anthers somewhat exserted. Fruiting calyx broadly urn-shaped, to 25 mm long, veins prominent. Seeds c. 1.5 mm long, brown.
A herb. It grows 40-90 cm high and spreads 40-90 cm wide. It can be erect or lying along the ground. The leaves are softly downy and have a bad smell. They are alternate and oval or sword shaped. They have irregular cuts and are 20 cm long. The flowers are yellow and have dark purple veins. The flower groups are leafy. The flowers are funnel shaped and 30 mm wide. The fruit is a black capsule. It is 12 mm across.
Life form
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread epizoochory
Mature width (meter) 0.7 - 0.95
Mature height (meter) 1.0
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 1.5
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

By the walls of fields, waste ground, near buildings and in stony places from low-lying ground near the sea to lower mountain slopes.
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It is a temperate plant. It grows in waste places. It suits hardiness zone 3-9.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 1-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-8

Usage

CAUTION: It should only be used in small amounts. It is poisonous in large quantities. It contains alkaloids such as atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine. The starch of the root is a famine food used for extending bread flour, after removing the bitter element.
Uses dye environmental use medicinal poison social use
Edible leaves roots seeds
Therapeutic use Diuretics (aerial part), Edema (aerial part), Hypnotics and sedatives (aerial part), Irritable bowel syndrome (aerial part), Parasympatholytics (aerial part), Ulcer (aerial part), Wounds and injuries (aerial part), Anxiety (flower), Asthma (flower), Cough (flower), Eye diseases (flower), Hypnotics and sedatives (flower), Hysteria (flower), Counterirritant (flower), Narcotics (flower), Nervous system diseases (flower), Parasympatholytics (flower), Sprains and strains (flower), Urinary tract infections (flower), Whooping cough (flower), Eye diseases (fruit), Hypnotics and sedatives (fruit), Hysteria (fruit), Insecticides (fruit), Nervous system diseases (fruit), Parasympatholytics (fruit), Toothache (fruit), Urinary tract infections (fruit), Whooping cough (fruit), Amenorrhea (leaf), Analgesics (leaf), Anthelmintics (leaf), Anti-bacterial agents (leaf), Anti-infective agents, local (leaf), Anxiety (leaf), Appetite stimulants (leaf), Arthralgia (leaf), Asthma (leaf), Astringents (leaf), Bronchitis (leaf), Cardiotonic agents (leaf), Colic (leaf), Common cold (leaf), Conjunctivitis (leaf), Cosmetics (leaf), Cough (leaf), Dental caries (leaf), Diabetes mellitus (leaf), Diuretics (leaf), Dysmenorrhea (leaf), Dyspepsia (leaf), Earache (leaf), Edema (leaf), Disorder of ejaculation (leaf), Endophthalmitis (leaf), Epilepsy (leaf), Epistaxis (leaf), Expectorants (leaf), Eye diseases (leaf), Fever (leaf), Flatulence (leaf), Furunculosis (leaf), Gingival hemorrhage (leaf), Headache (leaf), Heart diseases (leaf), Hematemesis (leaf), Hemoptysis (leaf), Hemostasis (leaf), Hypnotics and sedatives (leaf), Hysteria (leaf), Intestinal diseases, parasitic (leaf), Irritable bowel syndrome (leaf), Counterirritant (leaf), Laxatives (leaf), Leukorrhea (leaf), Liver diseases (leaf), Meningitis (leaf), Menstruation disturbances (leaf), Mosaic viruses (leaf), Mydriatics (leaf), Narcotics (leaf), Nervous system diseases (leaf), Neuralgia (leaf), Orchitis (leaf), Pain (leaf), Parasympatholytics (leaf), General tonic for rejuvenation (leaf), Scabies (leaf), Sleep initiation and maintenance disorders (leaf), Toothache (leaf), Ulcer (leaf), Urinary tract infections (leaf), Urolithiasis (leaf), Whooping cough (leaf), Wounds and injuries (leaf), Rheumatoid arthritis (leaf), Anthelmintics (root), Astringents (root), Abdominal pain (seed), Alcoholic intoxication (seed), Analgesics (seed), Anthelmintics (seed), Anti-bacterial agents (seed), Anti-infective agents (seed), Anti-inflammatory agents (seed), Antipyretics (seed), Appetite stimulants (seed), Arthralgia (seed), Asthma (seed), Astringents (seed), Bronchitis (seed), Cardiotonic agents (seed), Colic (seed), Common cold (seed), Constipation (seed), Cosmetics (seed), Cough (seed), Dental caries (seed), Digestive system diseases (seed), Diuretics (seed), Dysmenorrhea (seed), Dyspnea (seed), Earache (seed), Edema (seed), Disorder of ejaculation (seed), Endophthalmitis (seed), Epilepsy (seed), Epistaxis (seed), Expectorants (seed), Eye diseases (seed), Fever (seed), Flatulence (seed), Gastrointestinal diseases (seed), Gingival hemorrhage (seed), Headache (seed), Heart diseases (seed), Hemagglutination (seed), Hematemesis (seed), Hemoptysis (seed), Hemostasis (seed), Hypnotics and sedatives (seed), Hysteria (seed), Infertility, female (seed), Inflammatory bowel diseases (seed), Intestinal diseases, parasitic (seed), Irritable bowel syndrome (seed), Counterirritant (seed), Kidney calculi (seed), Leukorrhea (seed), Liver diseases (seed), Malaria (seed), Meningitis (seed), Menstruation disturbances (seed), Mental disorders (seed), Mydriatics (seed), Narcotics (seed), Neurotic disorders (seed), Orchitis (seed), Pain (seed), Parasympatholytics (seed), Premature ejaculation (seed), Psychophysiologic disorders (seed), Scabies (seed), Sleep initiation and maintenance disorders (seed), Toothache (seed), Ulcer (seed), Urolithiasis (seed), Whooping cough (seed), Wounds and injuries (seed), Nocturnal emission of semen (seed), Rheumatoid arthritis (seed), Anti-bacterial agents (stem), Alcoholism (unspecified), Analgesic (unspecified), Anaphrodisiac (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Antispasmodic (unspecified), Asthma (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified), Cathartic (unspecified), CNS depressant (unspecified), Cough (unspecified), Cycloplegic (unspecified), Cystitis (unspecified), Delirium (unspecified), Diabetes (unspecified), Epilepsy (unspecified), Eye (unspecified), Fumitory (unspecified), Gastrospasm (unspecified), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Gout (unspecified), Hypnotic (unspecified), Mydriatic (unspecified), Narcotic (unspecified), Neuralgia (unspecified), Parasympatholytic (unspecified), Pertussis (unspecified), Poison (unspecified), Sciatica (unspecified), Sclerosis (unspecified), Seasickness (unspecified), Sedative (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified), Tetanus (unspecified), Toothache (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Tumor(Parotid) (unspecified), Urogenital (unspecified), Uteritis (unspecified), Gastralgia (unspecified), Mania (unspecified), Incontinence (unspecified), Morphinism (unspecified), Myalgia (unspecified), Parkinsonism (unspecified), Swelling (unspecified), Analgesics (unspecified), Anthelmintics (unspecified), Anticonvulsants (unspecified), Cathartics (unspecified), Colic (unspecified), Dementia (unspecified), Dysentery (unspecified), Dyspepsia (unspecified), Eye diseases (unspecified), Glaucoma (unspecified), Heart diseases (unspecified), Hiccup (unspecified), Hypnotics and sedatives (unspecified), Hypochondriasis (unspecified), Hysteria (unspecified), Intestinal diseases, parasitic (unspecified), Irritable bowel syndrome (unspecified), Counterirritant (unspecified), Laxatives (unspecified), Lung diseases (unspecified), Menstruation disturbances (unspecified), Mental disorders (unspecified), Mydriatics (unspecified), Narcotics (unspecified), Nervous system diseases (unspecified), Ocular hypertension (unspecified), Sleep initiation and maintenance disorders (unspecified), Urinary tract infections (unspecified), Whooping cough (unspecified), Wounds and injuries (unspecified)
Human toxicity very strong toxic (seed), very strong toxic (root), very strong toxic (whole)
Animal toxicity very strong toxic (seed), very strong toxic (root), very strong toxic (whole)

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 14 - 40
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 10 - 18
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Hyoscyamus niger habit picture by Ondřej Jokerrr83 (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger habit picture by Jenn (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger habit picture by Patrice Nodet (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Hyoscyamus niger leaf picture by guenola dujardin (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger leaf picture by Bennik kolin (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger leaf picture by Rudi (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Hyoscyamus niger flower picture by Jocelyne Bourrie (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger flower picture by Eleonora van Nieuwenhoven (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger flower picture by Peterová Dominika (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Hyoscyamus niger fruit picture by Yoan Braud (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger fruit picture by Marcos Rivas Campoamor (cc-by-sa)
Hyoscyamus niger fruit picture by Bastien Jorigné (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Hyoscyamus niger world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Algeria, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Morocco, North Macedonia, Malta, Myanmar, Montenegro, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:100187-3
WFO ID wfo-0001021850
COL ID 3NM3P
BDTFX ID 35153
INPN ID 103185
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Hyoscyamus agrestis Hyoscyamus bohemicus Hyoscyamus syspirensis Hyoscarpus niger Hyoscyamus auriculatus Hyoscyamus lethalis Hyoscyamus persicus Hyoscyamus pictus Hyoscyamus pallidus Hyoscyamus verviensis Hyoscyamus niger subsp. agrestis Hyoscyamus niger var. annuus Hyoscyamus niger var. chinensis Hyoscyamus niger
WorldFloraDB 2024