Henbane

There are some plants that you read about and long to see. They may be beautiful, fascinating or rare. Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, is all three of these.

I’ve only seen it twice. The first time was on the shoreline on Lindisfarne in Northumberland, which we visited on a cycling trip in 2004. It was a magnificent plant, beautiful but rather sinister, nearly three feet tall, covered in hairs and with clusters of pretty, funnel shaped flowers, cream coloured with purple veins.

Then, last August, we found it growing much nearer to home, on an uncultivated field on the south west outskirts of Norwich, amongst ragwort, fat hen and other arable weeds. The encounter was just as memorable.

The green, flowering plants were growing a short distance from the dried stems of the previous year’s plants. We were able to gather a few seeds and Vanna’s aunt, who lives nearby, also gathered more for us later in the season. Last week, while it was still cold, I planted some seeds in my unheated greenhouse and I’m hoping they’ll germinate and grow. Henbane seeds require a cold spell to germinate, so if my first seeds don’t do anything I’ll soak the next seeds before planting and put them in the fridge for a few days before sowing.

Henbane seed capsules

Henbane is a member of the Nightshade family, the Solanaceae, and like many of its relatives it is highly poisonous. The whole plant contains a mixture of alkaloids, mainly hyoscyamine and hyoscine (a.k.a. scopolamine). These compounds are also found in Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna).

Symptoms of Henbane poisoning include a dry mouth, thirst, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, warm flushed skin, dilated pupils, blurred vision and photophobia, vomiting, urinary retention, tachycardia, pyrexia, drowsiness, slurred speech, hyperreflexia, auditory, visual or tactile hallucinations, confusion and disorientation, delirium, agitation and combative behaviour. In severe cases there may be hypertension, coma and convulsions.  (See The Poison Garden website.) Henbane was Dr. Crippen’s choice when he poisoned his wife.

Fortunately the plant has an unpleasant smell and taste, so it rarely causes poisoning in the UK, though Henbane’s hallucinogenic properties mean that some people will risk eating it for these effects.

Henbane flowers

If my Henbane plants grow, they will be for strictly decorative purposes. I recently read an article by Germaine Greer about endangered wild flowers and I’m glad to learn that she is also a fan of this striking plant.

Historically, before Hops were used to flavour beer, other flavourings, such as Heather, were used. Apparently dried Henbane leaves were sometimes used. However, as the toxins in Henbane are still active even in dried leaves, I won’t be experimenting with this recipe any time soon…

Update – 2nd January 2017: Our Henbane plants did grow. They set seed and now we have Henbane flowers every year. We are so fortunate to grow this beautiful plant.