Black Henbane. White Henbane.
Henbane is toxic. -Henriette
Black Henbane.
Hyoscyamus niger.
A common wild plant, of a dismal aspect and disagreeable smell. The farm yards and ditch banks in most places are full of it. It grows two feet high. The stalk is thick, round, hairy, and clammy to the touch; but not very upright. The leaves are large, long, and broad, deeply serrated at the edges, of a bluish green colour, hairy, and clammy to the touch, and leaving a disagreeable smell upon the hands. The flowers are large, and stand in rows on the tops of the branches, which often bend down; they are of a strange yellowish brown colour, with purple veins. The seeds are numerous and brown.
The seeds are used; the rest of the plant is esteemed poisonous. They are given in small doses against the bloody flux, and it is said with great success; I have not known it tried.
White Henbane.
Hyoscyamus albus.
A native of Italy and Germany, kept in our gardens. It is a foot high, and has something of the aspect of the black henbane, but not so dismal. The stalk is round, thick, and of a pale green; the leaves are large, broad, but short, and a little indented at the edges; they are of a yellowish green, and somewhat hairy; the flowers are small and yellow, and the seeds are whitish.
The seeds of this kind are preferred to those of the others, as less strong in their effects; but if any harm would happen from the internal use of the other, we should have known it, for they are generally sold for them.
