henbane

American  

[hen-beyn] / ˈhɛnˌbeɪn /

noun

1. an Old World plant, Hyoscyamus niger, of the nightshade family, having sticky, hairy fetid foliage and greenish-yellow flowers, and possessing narcotic and poisonous properties especially destructive to domestic fowls.

---

henbane British  

/ ˈhɛnˌbeɪn /

noun

1. a poisonous solanaceous European plant, Hyoscyamus niger, with sticky hairy leaves and funnel-shaped greenish flowers: yields the drug hyoscyamine

---

Etymology

Origin of henbane

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; hen, bane

Example Sentences

At the time that the original owner stuffed the container full of seeds, the properties of black henbane were already well known in Rome.

From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2024

Colleagues identified them as the seeds of black henbane, a toxic plant that thrives in the kind of disturbed soil often found on the margins of human settlements.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 7, 2024

The Solanaceae family is a vast one with more than 2,500 members including tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, aubergines, peppers, tobacco, deadly nightshade and henbane.

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2023

A Babylonian clay tablet advises treating the pain of a burrowing 'tooth worm', which is thought to be the cause of caries, by plugging the hole with gum mastic and powdered henbane seeds.

From Nature • Jul. 12, 2016

“Juice of henbane, black and deadly,” she said.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein