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Useful Tropical Plants

Hyoscyamus muticus

L.

Solanaceae

+ Synonyms

Hyoscyamus datora Forssk.

Hyoscyamus falezlez Coss.

Scopolia datora (Forssk.) Dunal

Scopolia mutica (L.) Dunal

Common Name: Egyptian Henbane

Hyoscyamus muticus
Close-up of the flower
Photograph by: Luca Fornasari
Creative Commons License
Hyoscyamus muticus Hyoscyamus muticus Hyoscyamus muticus

General Information

Egyptian henbane is a perennial herb or shrub growing up to 1.5 metres tall[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The plant is gathered from the wild and used locally in traditional medicine[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. It is a rich source of alkaloids that are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and, consequently, the plant is often gathered from the wild, and is also occasionally cultivated in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and India, for the extraction of the alkaloids[
317
Title
Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
]. The plant is often exported, particularly to Germany, for medicinal use[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Known Hazards

The plant is reputed to be poisonous[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Fatalities on record involve eating dates poisoned with the plant and eating locusts that had eaten the plant[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The Tuareg people use the plant as a fish poison[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Botanical References


Range

Sub-Saharan Africa - Mauritania to Sudan. Also in Saudi Arabia and the eastern Mediterranean.

Habitat

Occurs in desert areas in rocky localities, wadis and plains[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *
Medicinal Rating *  *  *
HabitPerennial
Height1.50 m
Cultivation StatusCultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the drier tropics and subtropics.

Spacing for optimal leaf production and alkaloid yield is about 45 cm between rows and 15 cm in the rows[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
When grown for the alkaloids, the plant should be harvested about 3 weeks after the beginning of flowering when the first fruits are ripe[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. After that time the alkaloid yield will drop, although the plant yield will still increase[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
In Sudan the summer crop is harvested after about 145 days, the winter crop after 190 days[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Yields about 2 t/ha of dry plant material and 20 - 30 kg/ha of alkaloids have been obtained in Africa[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Edible Uses

The seeds are roasted and used for the manufacture of an intoxicating drink[
317
Title
Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
].

Medicinal

Fresh leaves are applied as a poultice to relieve pain[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Dried leaves are smoked in cigarettes to treat asthma but also for their intoxicating effect[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

The leaves have a high alkaloid content, with up to 5.2% of dry matter in individual plants. In smaller amounts, alkaloids are also present in the roots and stems[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The major alkaloid is hyoscyamine, but scopolamine, tigloidine and tropine are also present[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Scopolamine content is of interest to the pharmaceutical industry. In general the level of scopolamine is low in leaves, as low as 0.02%, but in the 'Cairo' strain, the scopolamine content of the leaves can exceed 4%[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Atropine (a racemic mixture of d- and l-hyoscyamine) and scopolamine are used in ophthalmology as an analgesic, and scopolamine is used to cure or prevent motion sickness[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
These tropane alkaloids are classified as anticholinergics as they bind to acetylcholine receptors. In-vitro production of hyoscyamine and scopolamine is feasible but is not economical[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The seed oil contains considerable quantities of sterols (about 11.6 g/kg) and tocopherols (about 2.9 g/kg) and is thought to be of medicinal interest[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed. Direct sowing is recommended. Germination has been reported as erratic and troublesome, but treatment of the seeds with concentrated sulphuric acid for 75 seconds, fluctuating temperatures between day and night and the use of kinetin (60 mg/l) all promote germination[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-10. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Hyoscyamus+muticus>

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