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I’m in the Western Desert of Egypt at the Bahayria Oasis, locally known as Al Wahat Al Baharia, on the hunt for plants with medicinal properties. I’m working with a team of scientists and students from Heliopolis University in Cairo. This plant is Egyptian Henbane, the scientific name is Hyoscyamus muticus. It is a perennial shrub native to desert areas of north Africa. It is a member of the Solanaceae family and contains many alkaloids of therapeutic interest, such as hyoscyamine and scopolamine. Scopolamine is used in modern medicine as a drug for treating motion sickness.
In traditional uses, the seeds have been prepared as an intoxicating beverage, the fresh leaves applied as a poultice to treat pain, and the dry leaves smoked to treat asthma. But a note of CAUTION! This plant is well known as a poison and can kill when taken at the wrong doses. In fact, there are many famous stories of leaders in ancient Rome using this plant to poison and eliminate rivals. The line between poison and medicine comes down to dose and intent.
I provide more images of this plant on my TikTok channel for Quave Lab. Check it out and subscribe: @quave_lab