Hyoscyamus

Hyoscyamus — known as the henbanes — is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. It comprises 31 species, all of which are toxic. It, along with other genera in the same family, is a source of the drug hyoscyamine (daturine). Cruciferous type of stomata are present in Hyoscyamus.

Hyoscyamus means "hog-bean" in botanical Latin and was a name derogatorily applied to the plant by Dioscorides.

The poisonous, narcotic henbanes were associated with witchcraft since earliest times. The Assyrians recommended hanging them on one's door to ward off sorcery. Witches found them valuable especially due to their trance-inducing capabilities, and they were used in flying ointment rituals. They have been used to lessen pain, neuralgia and diminish convulsions. Dioscorides recommended them largely for external pain killing use. The leaves are made into a kind of cigarette to relieve asthma and other respiratory ailments.

Species

31 species are accepted.

• Hyoscyamus afghanicus – Afghanistan
• Hyoscyamus albus <small>L.</small> &ndash; White henbane – Spain and Morocco
• Hyoscyamus arachnoideus – northern Iraq and Western Iran
• Hyoscyamus aureus <small>L.</small> &ndash; Golden henbane – Eastern Mediterranean (Greece to Egypt) and Iraq
• Hyoscyamus bornmuelleri – southern Iran
• Hyoscyamus boveanus <small>(Dunal) Asch. & Schweinf.</small> – Egypt and Sinai
• Hyoscyamus coelesyriacus – Lebanon
• Hyoscyamus desertorum <small>(Asch. ex Boiss.) Täckh.</small> – Syria to Egypt and northeastern Saudi Arabia
• Hyoscyamus flaccidus – Oman and Yemen
• Hyoscyamus gallagheri – Oman
• Hyoscyamus grandiflorus – northern Somalia
• Hyoscyamus insanus – eastern Arabian Peninsula to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Himalayas
• Hyoscyamus kotschyanus – western and southwestern Iran
• Hyoscyamus kurdicus – northern Iraq to Iran
• Hyoscyamus leptocalyx – southeastern Turkey to western Iran
• Hyoscyamus leucanthera – Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan
• Hyoscyamus longipedunculatus – northern Iraq
• Hyoscyamus malekianus – southern Iran
• Hyoscyamus multicaulis – central Afghanistan
• Hyoscyamus muticus <small>L.</small> (synonym: H. falezlez) &ndash; Egyptian henbane – northern Africa (Sahara), Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Pakistan, and India
• Hyoscyamus niger <small>L.</small> &ndash; Black henbane – temperate Eurasia and north Africa
• Hyoscyamus nutans – Iran
• Hyoscyamus orthocarpus – western and southern Iran
• Hyoscyamus pojarkovae – Syria, Iraq, and Iran
• Hyoscyamus pusillus <small>L.</small> – Western and Central Asia to Tibet and Mongolia
• Hyoscyamus reticulatus <small>L.</small> – Turkey to Sinai and Tajikistan
• Hyoscyamus rosularis – central Iran
• Hyoscyamus senecionis – northern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan
• Hyoscyamus squarrosus – Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
• Hyoscyamus tenuicaulis – western and southern Iran
• Hyoscyamus tibesticus – Chad (Tibesti Mountains)

Gallery

References

External links