Notorious as a poisoning agent for centuries, Henbane is a very important plant from the pharmacological point of view.

Appropriately, with the Latin name nivalis linking it to snow and winter, the Snowdrop tolerates low temperatures well. It braves the tail end of the winter to herald the spring.

Not so with humans, however, where the effects of Henbane poisoning can be bizarre: in the old days children who had eaten the plant were thought to have been possessed by evil spirits.

The strong tap root is usually very long, commonly growing to a depth of 2-3 m and occasionally to as much as 5-6 m. Growing horizontally from this root, about 35 cm below the surface, are tuberous lateral roots containing reserve stores of food.

Henbane is a plant of barren places, abandoned fields, waste ground, and roadsides and a weed of field crops, particularly in warmer regions. It is a frequent and unwelcome intruder, for instance, in poppy fields.

The species G. nivalis and its varieties are cultivated in gardens together with many other, mostly southern European snowdrops.