Henbane

[wildherbalian85]

Please, I am seeking any information of any known locations were Hyoscyamus niger "Henbane" & Atropa Belladonna "Deadly Nightshade" have been seen growing in the Hampshire, Sussex area in the past 4 years.

For the past two years i have been trying to locate and document areas in which these rare and elusive plants are growing. The purpose was originaly to aquire a specimin of Henbane and Belladonna for something i was doing in college, but it soon turned into a nightmare hunt and in the end a fruitless one at that. During my seeking of these herbs i ended up doing a lot of research into them and their past and i found this facinating. Last year was my second year of seeking these plants and i decided that i would explore further afield from southern hampshire and start exploring location in sussex. I used the National Biodiversity Network and the internet for help in locating known areas and eventualy i struck luck - i found myself traveling all the way to Rye harbour in East Sussex were i found my first henbane plant. I proceeded to look for location were i might find it growing closer to home and eventualy found information of it growing just outside Seaford - also in East Sussex. When i got to this location the first solanacea i come across was a large bush of deadly nightshade infact this location was swarming with the stuff and belladonna was the predominant plant there, i counted in excess of 40 bushes of various sizes and stages of growth. This find was a pleasent supprise as there had been no mentioning of it growing there, and i had also been finding i was gradualy concentrating more in locating Henbane rather then Belladonna so to find so much belladonna was a bonus. At first i had only found one small Henbane plant and several Henbane rosettes' along with the Belladonna but then i went over to the other side of the hill and found 30-40 second year plants and many more first year plants. I collected some seeds from the mature plants.
With the seeds i collected i sowed them on an isolated stretch of scrub land local to me and in annother area that it had been documented as once growing there. Unfortunatly spring warmth has been reluctant show itself this year and the seeds have yet to germanate. I hope within the next 4-6 weeks i will be able to start looking for more location to were it might be growing, but due to the nature of henbane in perticular the hunt i suspect is going to be a pain. I am aware of it growing on the IOW but due to the poor public transport system and the cost's of the ferry i left it out last year.
So again i would be grateful if anybody has information they are willing to share on either of these two plants in these areas. I must stress that my purpose of locating these is purley for a hobby/ personal interest/ and to photograph.

Ian

[wildherbalian85]

So i figuer it might help if i put a picture of what i am looking for...

Belladonna


Henbane




This is a rosette of a first year henbane plant

[wildherbalian85]

ok so im guessing knowbody has seen either of these plants

[Andy Warne]

Not in Hampshire or Sussex unfortunately. Two of my favourite plants though and I finally found Henbane growing in Leicestershire last year, by chance it was growing with Deadly Nightshade. Fantastic.

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by Andy Warne

Not in Hampshire or Sussex unfortunately. Two of my favourite plants though and I finally found Henbane growing in Leicestershire last year, by chance it was growing with Deadly Nightshade. Fantastic.

Lucky find, i know they both enjoy disturbed ground. It realy bothers me that as litle as 20 years ago henbane was a common plant yet now it is so rare.

Finding the two together is very lucky. Deadly Nightshade is better in partial to full shade were as henbane must be in full sunlight. Belladonna been a plant chiefly found on chalky soil's you'd have thought living next to the South downs i'd have had better luck finding it
Henbane - well

[wildherbalian85]

Testing Signature

[IanS]

You will find Deadly nightshade growing in the Chilterns too. OK bit far north of where you are but well worth the trip. Loads of rare and interesting plants grow there. I saw my first deadly nightshade plant last year at Ashton Rowant, one of the national nature reserves.
Ian

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by IanS

You will find Deadly nightshade growing in the Chilterns too. OK bit far north of where you are but well worth the trip. Loads of rare and interesting plants grow there. I saw my first deadly nightshade plant last year at Ashton Rowant, one of the national nature reserves.
Ian

The chilterns are just south of london right??

Thank's for the tip , incidentaly i was just thinking about a day trip, i was looking into Butser hill just to the north of me. Looking at records on the National Biodiversity Network i see that Belladonna is quite a common species of the southdown's and also several records of it being found on Butser - albiet 17 years ago Maybe if im lucky there might be a little henbane aswel.

The strangest place i have seen belladonna growing was on the platform of a seaside train station - the station was less then half mile from beach. Bishopstone train station

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by wildherbalian85

The chilterns are just south of london right??

Thank's for the tip , incidentaly i was just thinking about a day trip, i was looking into Butser hill just to the north of me. Looking at records on the National Biodiversity Network i see that Belladonna is quite a common species of the southdown's and also several records of it being found on Butser - albiet 17 years ago Maybe if im lucky there might be a little henbane aswel.

The strangest place i have seen belladonna growing was on the platform of a seaside train station - the station was less then half mile from beach. Bishopstone train station

Chilterns are north of London!

[IanS]

The Chilterns stretch from west of Reading in the south to Hitchin in the north. Ashton Rowant is in the southern half and is bisected by the M40

[wildherbalian85]

Thanks guy's

[wildherbalian85]

Ok so i have (i think) located a good looking location for Henbane. I located this by cross refferencing known records with google earth

Also call me odd but the nearest train station is in a small town about 2 mile's away, this town has "ford" at the end of it's name.

here is the good bit the only other location that i have found through research is also situated about 2 mile's outside a town with "ford" at the end of its name - these are two completely different towns.

Added to that both of these locations require hiking up hill to around 100m above sea level.

Well maybe it's now't but if this place does have henbane then what can i say - just a coincidence

[wildherbalian85]

Well i found some deadly nightshade today and it was in Hampshire - still not found any henbane though.

[lizard orchid]

Dear Ian ,
Here are some records of Henbane worth checking from the Sussex Rare Plant Register for you. Seen in 1997 up to 2000 but could still be there. Good Luck!
Seaford Head Very edge of cliff where disturbed by rabbits TV 507 973
Near Camber Castle Trackside TV 922 185 and Waste Tip at TV 921 176

Brian Laney Botanist Northants

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by lizard orchid

Dear Ian ,
Here are some records of Henbane worth checking from the Sussex Rare Plant Register for you. Seen in 1997 up to 2000 but could still be there. Good Luck!
Seaford Head Very edge of cliff where disturbed by rabbits TV 507 973
Near Camber Castle Trackside TV 922 185 and Waste Tip at TV 921 176

Brian Laney Botanist Northants

Thank you for sharing this information. I must say though that one of the (only) two places i have seen Henbane growing happens to be just outside seaford at a place called "High & Over" were they have the big horse carved out of the hillside, there are hundereds of henbane plants growing here. Camber castle if memory serves me rightly is near Rye. Rye harbour is the only other place that i have located henbane growing wild. Both of these locations are in East sussex - i would like to find it in hampshire (south).
I got in contact with the Sussex Biodiversity record Centre who then provided me with a complete list of all records of henbane in sussex, there is two that have caught my attention. The first and most impressive is a record of "100's" growing in East Marden (happens to be about 5 miles from hant's/ sussex's border), the other is a record of it near littlehampton. Though the Marden record is 5 years old and henbane is normaly biannual the fact that there were 100's tells me that there is potential for it to be a common plant in the area also with it been so close to the border there is a chance it might be found in hampshire.
Sadly though it appears that henbane is extinct in the south of hampshire - though seeds can remain dormant for decades or even centuries in some conditions and then just germinate as soon as the ground is disturbed.. so it would be foolish to say its extinct for good.

[lizard orchid]

Dear Ian <
I have heard from good botanist friend Paul Stanley saw Henbane in North Hampshire near to where the Large Venus Looking Glass grows. I can find out details if interested.

Brian Laney

[PeterJL]

Good idea Paul's Stanley's information is usually spot on esp for Hants.

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by lizard orchid

Dear Ian <
I have heard from good botanist friend Paul Stanley saw Henbane in North Hampshire near to where the Large Venus Looking Glass grows. I can find out details if interested.

Brian Laney

Would be most interested, thankyou.

I know of it growing in north hampshire towards Alton way and surrounding area's - some of which border the wilt's border line.

[wildherbalian85]

Well i found a Henbane grave on Saturday - there must have been at least 40 remains of last years flowering plants unfortunately i did not find any flowering plant's though i would not be surprised if there had been at least on flowering plant there - the area was deeply overgrown with grass making it very hard to see them.
This location was just inside the W.Sussex border.

[wildherbalian85]

Well i found more deadly nightshade growing all around Kingsley vale in W.Sussex today - growing quite abundantly. There was some impressive looking plant's to with huge flowers... oh and the view from the top was pretty insane

p.s.. Who has (and why)? Change the title of this thread??

[mrs fish]

Is this Henbane ?

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by mrs fish

Is this Henbane ?

That certainly is henbane. Nice find.

[Steven Munday]

Hi Ian,

I was out this morning undertaking a bird survey for the BTO when I came across a number of flowering Henbane plants (well into double figures), a first for me. I took a photo, shown below.



I was searching the web for the occurrence of Henbane in Sussex when I came across this thread. These plants are located in Peacehaven, East Sussex just north of the Piddinghoe Sports Ground (north end of Piddinghoe Avenue) at TQ420014. They are situated to the south-east corner of a small disused reservoir, slightly up hill along the east side of a fence surrounding what I can only describe as a crater. Access is via a footpath to the west of the sports ground’s car park. The area is becoming overgrown so will require wading through vegetation.

I recently came across a large, flowering Deadly Nightshade on the 20th June to the east of Telscombe Village on a site locally known as the E-piece (about 2km north-west from the Henbane site) which forms a part of the Telscombe Tye. It’s located along a path through a wooded area towards the northern end at approximately TQ410031.



Hope this is useful.

Steve.

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by Steven Munday

Hi Ian,

I was out this morning undertaking a bird survey for the BTO when I came across a number of flowering Henbane plants (well into double figures), a first for me. I took a photo, shown below.



I was searching the web for the occurrence of Henbane in Sussex when I came across this thread. These plants are located in Peacehaven, East Sussex just north of the Piddinghoe Sports Ground (north end of Piddinghoe Avenue) at TQ420014. They are situated to the south-east corner of a small disused reservoir, slightly up hill along the east side of a fence surrounding what I can only describe as a crater. Access is via a footpath to the west of the sports ground’s car park. The area is becoming overgrown so will require wading through vegetation.

I recently came across a large, flowering Deadly Nightshade on the 20th June to the east of Telscombe Village on a site locally known as the E-piece (about 2km north-west from the Henbane site) which forms a part of the Telscombe Tye. It’s located along a path through a wooded area towards the northern end at approximately TQ410031.



Hope this is useful.

Steve.

Thanks Steve for this information and location I shall record this down and should i get fed up and stressed at not finding it at more local sites i will maybe go and check this location out. I went to check a location just outside of Basingstoke the other day and got lost - i ended up doing 20 miles of cycling most of it round in circles

I am quite surprised that this is the first time you have encounter this plant because as far as i'm aware it is quite a common plant from Brighton -to- Rye and is regularly found in those areas (i have access to records for Sussex), in fact East Sussex has quite a healthy Henbane population and its were most of Sussex's records are from. A good location to see Henbane is just outside Seaford at a location i think is known as "High and Over" Anyway it has that massive horse carved into the side of the hill. This location has literally hundreds of plants scattered widely over the area and it also has an abundance of Deadly Nightshade. Here is a footage of one particular row of large henbane plants...

YouTube - Henbane

[wildherbalian85]

I located another spot (and its in Hampshire) were Henbane is growing. There is a very healthy colony of the stuff.