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Hyosciamus niger L.

Fam:   Solanaceae Juss. 
Genus:   Hyosciamus L.
Species: Hyosciamus niger L.
English Name: Henbane, Stinking nightshade, Black henbane

Description:

Annual to biennial. Plant with an unpleasant odor, glandular hairy, sticky. Root vertical, 1.5 - 3.0 cm in diameter, highly branched, thickened root collar. Stems (10-) 16 - 93 (-110) cm tall, 4 - 12 mm diameter, erect, simple, rarely with single to multiple nodes in the upper part, with dense short hairs slightly spread. Lowest leaves on 2.0 - 6.5 cm long handles, form a rosette; Stem leaves on 0.5 - 2.5 cm long peduncles, the upper sessile, usually covering the stem; rolled sheet 2.5 - 18.5 (-20) cm long, 1.5 - 13.5 (-19) cm wide, ovate to oblong-ovate, narrowed to the top and extended tapered, wedge-shaped at the base, often short running down, shallow or deeply serrated or cut incorrectly, sometimes shallow feather-like devided, rarely entire; teeth or partitions triangular, long or short- pointed, dark green, in a young state on both surfaces, sessile or on short stems and sticky glandular hairs during flowering only glandular veins underneath. Bracts on short stems or seated, similar to the outer leaves. Blossomss on 2.5 - 7.5 mm long stems or sessile, collected in a one-sided class initially tight, then far apart. Calyx 6 - 20 mm long, 10 mm wide at the base tubular, gradually bell-shaped expanding, with 10 bulging veins, densely glandular hairy; teeth 2 - 7 mm long, triangular, pointed at the tip with a short awn; in the maturation of the fruit 1.2 - 2.9 (3.5 - 4) cm long, swollen bubble in the base. Corolla 1.2 - 4.5 cm long, up to 3.0 cm in diameter, wide, funnel, a pale yellow, wherein the opening of the tube violet, with or without purple streaks, outside naked, inside fiber. Stamens different length - 3 longer, 2 shorter; stems basically short fibrous; anthers purple-violet. Ovary ovoid, slightly flattened laterally, naked. The bar equal to slightly shorter than stamens, basically short fiber, to the stigma thckened. Box to 2 times shorter than growth of the calyx, narrowly ovoid, basically expanded bubble swollen with rounded convex cap. Seeds 1.0 1.3 mm long, 1 mm wide, round or kidney, tan, finely verrucose.

volatility

F. niger. Corolla with a network of violet veins. Widespread.
F. pallidas (Waldst. et Kit. Ex Willd.) Reichenb. Fl. Germ. Exe., II (1831) 338; Hayek, 1. C., H. niger var. pallidas (Waldst. et Kit.) Koch. Syn. (1837) 509; Stoyan., Steph., FL. Bulgarian, ed. 1, P (1925) 978; H. pallidas Waldst. et Kit. ex Willd., Enum. Hort. Berol., 1 (1809) 228 . Corolla without a network of violet veins. Black Sea Coast, northeastern Bulgaria, Struma valley, Thracian valley.
Economic importance. Poisonous herb. Rich in alkaloids (principally hyoscyamine, scopolamine, atropine) and glycosides ( hiostsipikrin, hiostserin and hiostsizerin). Used for galenic praparations against bronchial asthma, cough, peptic ulcer disease and to obtain the preparation Aeron and others.

Flowering Time: Blooms VI - VIII; fruitful VII - VIII (IX).

References: „Флора на НР България”, том IX, БАН, София, (1989)

Distribution in Bulgaria: In dry grasslands and degraded areas near fences and roads as weed. Distributed from sea level up to about 1200 m altitude. (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.

Distribution: Eurasia. As in savage. Northern America and Australia.

Conservation status and threats:  not protected species in Bulgaria by theBiodiversity Law. Законодателство на Република България: Закон за биологичното разнообразие