Hyoscyamus niger

Black henbane

Family: Solanaceae · Type: annual

Black henbane is a naturalized annual plant found in disturbed sites at elevations up to 1,800 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces cream to pale yellow or greenish yellow flowers with purple veins, approximately 25 to 45 millimeters wide, with wide rounded lobes. Growing with erect stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall that branch with ascending branches, it has an aromatic quality. Its leaves range from 5 to 30 centimeters long, with lower leaves having stalks while mid and upper leaves clasp the stem, displaying widely lanceolate to ovate shapes with coarsely toothed or deeply lobed edges. The fruit is a capsule 10 to 15 millimeters long that opens with a distinctive circumscissile lid.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: <= 1800 m

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.