Very poisonus
Effect:
highly toxic, in small quantities antispasmodic and antisecretory, hallucinatory
Areas of application:
(bronchial asthma, painful colic, for mouth rinsing for severe toothache, severe cramps in the intestines, for tremors (involuntary body movements or tremors e.g. in Parkinson's disease, in old age or after alcohol withdrawal, etc.), brain performance disorders, cough, sore throat, urinary retention, paralysis of the sphincter, Rheumatism, convulsive cough, muscle cramps, dry cough, epilepsy, shaking paralysis, delirium, in people who tend to have a short temper, are often upset and jealous) - requires a prescription in pharmacies
Plant parts used:
leaves
Collection time:
flowering time
To find:
The plant is protected and is strictly protected. On rubble heaps and wastelands.
Ingredients:
Hyoscyamine, scopolamine, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, atropine
Miscellaneous:
🛑 Attention: Symptoms of poisoning can include: impaired consciousness, intoxication with attacks of madness and memory loss, convulsions, dry mouth and vomiting, respiratory paralysis and even death. If symptoms of poisoning occur, seek medical help immediately!
List of poison control centers and poison information centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
World map of WHO poison centers
Henbane on animal pastures is also dangerous because it is poisonous to all animals except pigs.
The side effects that typically occur when consuming nightshade plants are intense thirst, dizziness, pressure in the head and a general feeling of poisoning.
Henbane grows 30 to 90 cm high and has a foul smell. The plant has leafy, thick, hairy, widely branched, erect stems. It is an annual or biennial plant, although the biennial plant is only used for medicinal purposes. The lobed, alternate leaves are gray-green or yellowish-green in color and have white veins. They spread like a rosette and are coarsely toothed, large and wide. The leaves grow up to 15 cm wide and 20 cm long. The 5-petaled flowers are funnel-shaped and brownish-yellow in color with dark purple veins. The flowers are arranged in a long-stemmed inflorescence on the upper leaves, with the young flowers at the pointed ends. They have a diameter of up to 5 cm. The 5-lobed, urn-shaped fruit is 2.5 cm large. Each fruit is filled with hundreds of tiny black seeds. The roots of henbane are whitish in color. The main root is squat and branched.
Henbane is one of the most important magical and intoxicating plants of antiquity. In a Western European healing text from the 10th century there is a recipe for an ointment with henbane that was to be used "against the people of elves and nocturnal visitors, and for women who had carnal intercourse with the devil." In his 25-volume healing treatise from 1595, the Chinese doctor Li Shi-chen pointed out, among other things, that henbane seeds were helpful in communicating with demons and other spirits.
Henbane is also considered an aphrodisiac and is smoked in some places.
Medieval women scattered henbane seeds into the open fires of bathhouses, creating an erotic atmosphere.
It is known from the ancient Germanic tribes and other earlier tribes that they used henbane, in addition to spelling rain, to enhance the effects of beer and mead. These drinks were so intoxicating that today's strong beer is relatively mild in comparison. The name of the city of Pilsen and ultimately the name of the beer type Pilsen goes back to the Bilsen gardens in which the plant was grown by the breweries.
Henbane, like mandrake and hemlock, was used to alleviate the suffering of those sentenced to death. The herb is often used by medieval magicians and poisoners for pain relief, but also for death potions.
Henbane was also an ingredient in the witches' flying ointments; both the leaves and the poisonous seeds were used. Many died from it or were accused of witchcraft.
Hildegard von Bingen: If someone ate the herb or the oil made from the grains, it would produce a deadly poison in them. But where there are fins (larvae of the tapeworm) in a man, so that they make a flesh ulcerate, let him rub the leaf in that place and the fins will die. To bring a drunken person back to his senses, put the herb in water and moisten his forehead, temples, and throat with it, and he will feel better.