Black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and dope common, or smelly (Datura stramonium)

We almost never find black henbane near Vladimir. In any case, I was lucky to meet her only once, and even that long ago - as a child. But in Northern Kazakhstan, this grass can be seen near dwellings literally at every step.

I remember that at the earliest stage of "learning the Russian language", in our children's everyday life there were a lot of words denoting an unpleasant smell. For ethical reasons, I can only cite the most harmless of them - "stinker". So we called just henbane.

I began to recognize Belena very early. Firstly, there it grows in any vacant lot, so it is impossible not to meet it. Secondly, this plant has a memorable appearance and a disgusting smell. In general, you don't want to, but you will remember. With bleached, I have a dramatic (and maybe funny - anyone else) family history, which my mother and I interpreted in completely different ways. There she is.

My best friend Vovka Kolesnikov and I, as already noted, walked on our own. And, of course, we tried everything that grows. For example, even then, at the age of five, I knew that you can eat mallet cakes, yellow acacia flowers, licorice root. Black nightshade berries were in special favor with us (Solanum nigrum), which in the literature are often called poisonous, which is completely wrong. Anyone who lived in Kazakhstan will confirm that black nightshade berries are very tasty, the local population collects them on purpose and even uses them in harvesting. When the nightshade berries turned black, Vovka and I did not miss a single bush. It’s a pity that he didn’t meet very often in the village itself. Large thickets of nightshade were on the outskirts far from us, in the steppe beyond Toguzak, but we were strictly forbidden to go there.

Vovka was only a year older than me, but much more experienced in terms of pasture. It was he who showed me the henbane, in our way "porridge". Unripe henbane fruits have a pleasant sweetish taste, both he and I knew about it - tried it. But nothing more. Because Vovka strictly warned: "Eat a lot - you will die!" By the way, I believed Vovka as to myself - he won’t be in vain. Not like the mother - she just kept giving in unnecessary fear. I quickly saw through her "strategy of intimidation" and was skeptical of her tales.

And here, unfortunately, Vovka and I, in our village, there was a case of severe poisoning of a child with bleached hair. It was some kind of "completely stupid" girl, three or four years old. The rumor of this instantly spread throughout the district. And it must happen that, alarmed by this event, my mother found me and Vovka in a vacant lot, right next to a henbane. In her plague head, a plot was instantly formed that could not be refuted by anything: her son also ate too much henbane! At that time we were grazing peacefully like two lambs, not suspecting anything like that. They talked sincerely about some of their secret affairs. And suddenly - on you! Shout, din! They take us by the breasts and interrogate us with passion.

- Did you eat "porridge" !? - Mom bothers us in turn. From the surprise, Vovka and I were confused and began to "get confused in the testimony." I categorically denied everything. Vovka, however, did not find anything better than to give something like a confession. Say, there was a case, ate a little. In essence, he did not mean at all what was incriminated to us, but some kind of long past event. But the investigative committee knew its business. Our discordance finally convinced mom - the children ate henbane! The fact that no symptoms of poisoning were observed - she already did not take into account. I quickly contacted Vovkina's mother, and it was decided to give us milk to drink. For this, Vovka and I were strictly ordered to drink warm milk as much as possible in order to induce vomiting and clear the stomach of toxic contents.

I don’t know how it was with Vovka, he was soldered off individually. But exactly 3 liters of milk was poured into my womb - a full can.I couldn't get into me anymore, I gagged and cried, and my mother kept repeating: “Drink more! More!" My belly is swollen like a May Day balloon - and it will burst. I felt sick, and, of course, a healthy child's body wanted to get rid of the excess. This fact served to my mother as the final proof of my poisoning. And she means - the savior! How many times we later remembered how I “ate too much henbane,” but I never managed to convince her that there was nothing like that at all.

Helen is a biennial plant knee-deep, or slightly higher (sometimes up to a meter). The leaves and stems of henbane have an unpleasant, smelly, "stupefying" smell. Helen does not smell from a distance, but only if you take it in your hands. But it really stinks well! A relative of henbane also smells unpleasant, ordinary dope, or smelly (Datura stramonium) - an annual plant 30-70 cm high. Both of these plants are very rare in the Non-Black Earth Region.

Let me remind you that all the persons involved in this plot - both dope, henbane, and nightshade belong to the same family - nightshade (Solanaceae)... They can be found in the suburbs and here near Vladimir. Sometimes black nightshade also comes across. But in our country, nightshade fruits almost never reach maturity, that is, they are not poured to a state of blackness. Therefore, in our area, few people know about their edibility. Along the way, I note that, unlike berries, black nightshade grass is really poisonous. As well, the grass of our garden nightshade crops such as tomato and potato is also poisonous. But who would ever think of eating a nasty potato or tomato tops!

Photo by Rita Brilliantova and from the GreenInfo.ru forum