"Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?" - Banquo in Macbeth. Is Shakespeare referring to any particular plant with this line?

by DeusDeceptor

By the way the 2015 adaptation with Fassbender is pretty rad.

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The RSC edition of Macbeth says that the plant referred to was probably Henbane; the Arden3 edition, in relation to this line, mentions Hemlock as being thought able to make people mad. We don't seem to know for certain though.