Henbane

Hyoscyamus niger

Solanaceae

Sticky, dingy-yellow bells with purple veins — the witches’-herb and medieval beer-plant that is now a labeled poison-garden specimen only.

Poison-garden teaching plate. Tropane alkaloids — atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine. Not a home medicine, not a smoking herb, not a beer flavoring experiment.

Parts used: None for self-care.
Traditional notes: Historical anesthetic and beer additive — obsolete and lethal as plant medicine
Grow · USDA 6b: Annual or biennial, USDA 5–9 Only if you will label it and keep children off the bed. In work: Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Do not harvest for medicine.

Sticky hair, dingy yellow, purple veins, foul smell when bruised.
Hamlet’s father, in some readings, died of it. That is the vibe.
Hops won the beer argument for a reason.

Safety

All unsupervised use

Lore

The oracle of Delphi is sometimes accused of henbane smoke, which is a rumor with good scenery. Anglo-Saxon hennbana is ‘hen killer.’ Medieval gruit beers used it; hops were, among other things, a safety upgrade. Hamlet’s ‘hebenon’ may be this plant. Do not recreate the scene.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.