Toxic Plants

Foxglove In this series we are looking at plants which were used as anaesthetics in ancient Roman and medieval times and in wartime Britain.   In my last two posts in March and June, I described the progress of several such plants including henbane, jimsonweed / thornapple, white bryony / English mandrake, mediterranean / european mandrake, opium poppy, hemlock / poison hemlock, monkshood / wolfsbane and deadly nightshade.   It’s now September, so let’s take a look at how these plants have got on in the last three months. Henbane seed capsules Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) This annual plant has completed its life cycle by setting seed.   When the seed capsules dry out and turn brown they develop a ring of sharp spikes to deter predators, which makes harvesting the seeds rather painful at times!   The capsule is sealed with a cap; when the plant is ready to release its seeds the cap falls out and the seeds are scattered. These plants only grew to about a foot tall, their...