Hyoscyamus
(from Hyos Kyamos (Hog's Bean), the ancient Greek name used by Hippocrates). Henbane. ORD. Solanaceae. A genus comprising about nine species of biennial or perennial erect herbs, inhabiting warm and temperate Europe, Africa, and Asia. Corolla obliquely campanulate or shortly funnel-shaped, five-lobed. Capsule inclosed in the enlarged calyx, bursting when ripe round a circular raised ring, immediately below the hardened top. The species are of no particular horticultural value, and the only one worth including, chiefly for its medicinal properties, is H. niger.
H. niger (black). fl. very shortly stalked; corolla pale dingy yellow, with purplish veins. Summer. l. rather large, sessile; the upper ones stem-clasping, ovate, and regularly pinnatifid. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Europe (Britain), North Africa, North and West Asia, India. (B. M. Pl. 194.)