Coarse, erect biennial or summer annual to 1 m tall. Foliage is covered with sticky glandular hairs and has a foul odor. Black henbane has been used medicinally for centuries and is commercially cultivated in Europe for its alkaloid compounds. All plant parts contain tropane alkaloids (hyoscyamine, hyoscine or scopolamine, atropine) and are toxic to humans and animals when ingested. Livestock rarely consume plants because of the unpleasant odor and bitter taste. Introduced into Eastern North America from Eurasia as a medicinal herb.

SEEDLINGS: Cotyledons lanceolate to oblong, 3-5 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, with a few hairs on the basal margins. Lower midvein terminates with a gland. Stalk below the cotyledons (hypocotyl) short, visible above ground only at the earliest stage. Subsequent rosette leaves alternate, +/- oblong, often with petioles nearly as long as the blades. Margins entire to slightly wavy. Veins conspicuous, depressed on the upper surface, prominent below. Petioles and veins covered with long glandular hairs.

MATURE PLANT: Stems erect, leafy, branched (biennial form) or few-branched (annual form), densely covered with long glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, gray-green, covered with short glandular hairs, short-stalked (lower) to sessile (upper), oblong to lanceolate, 5-20 cm long, coarsely toothed to acutely pinnate-lobed, with conspicuous pale veins covered with long glandular hairs. Lower leaves short-stalked, upper sessile.

ROOTS and UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES:Taproot thick, fleshy.

FLOWERS: June-September. Racemes terminal, leafy, one-sided, +/- coiled at the tips, with flowers solitary in leaf axils below. Petals fused, funnel-shaped, unequally 5-lobed, oblique at the opening (limb), 2-3(4) cm long, pale (greenish-) yellow with conspicuous purple veins and a purple throat. Sepals fused, urn-shaped, 5-lobed, densely covered with long glandular hairs at the base, 1-1.5 cm long, enlarging to 2.5-3 cm long in fruit. Lobes acute, spreading, stiff. Stamens 5 (2 short). Filaments hairy. Anthers purple. Annual plants often have paler flowers and bloom later than biennials.

FRUITS and SEED : Capsules ovoid, 0.8-1.5 cm long, 2-chambered, open by a thick lid at the top (circumcissle), loosely enclosed and concealed by a stiff, prominently veined calyx (sepals collectively). Seeds numerous, brown to gray, deeply pitted, flattened, ~ 1.5 mm long, variably shaped, oval to +/- square, contain a higher concentration of alkaloids than leaves or roots.

HABITAT :Disturbed open sites, roadsides, fields, waste places, abandoned gardens. Grows best in sandy or well-drained loam soils with moderate fertility. Does not tolerate waterlogged soils.