Hyoscyamus niger

A characterful plant, handsome and sinister. People will comment upon the appearance of this plant which is capable of killing. It is used in homeopathic medicine and was used to kill Hamlet's father in Shakespeare's play of that name. It makes a spreading plant with outreaching branches clad in long shiny green leaves, held in pairs and dramatic in their effect. The flowers are coloured pale yellow, mauve-purple at their heart. They make open mouthed, large dark throated trumpets of uneasy aspect. The plant has a strong, not altogether pleasant odour, somewhat foetid. The stems are clammy to the touch and the leaves have hairs like an old woman's beard. There are flagon-shaped seed capsules which are attractive when dried. Deni Brown reports that pigs can eat the plant and come to no harm. In non-lethal doses it has been a useful sedative, in larger doses, the ultimate sedative.