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Hyoscyamus muticus
Solanaceae FAMILY

Hyoscyamus muticus

Hyoscyamus muticus

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant is reputed to be poisonous[1]. Fatalities on record involve eating dates poisoned with the plant and eating locusts that had eaten the plant[1]. The Tuareg people use the plant as a fish poison[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

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[1]. When grown for the alkaloids, the plant should be harvested about 3 weeks after the beginning of flowering when the first fruits are ripe[1]. After that time the alkaloid yield will drop, although the plant yield will still increase[1]. In Sudan the summer crop is harvested after about 145 days, the winter crop after 190 days[1]. Yields about 2 t/ha of dry plant material and 20 - 30 kg/ha of alkaloids have been obtained in Africa[1].

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[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Hyoscyamus+muticus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.