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