Gallows-weed was an obscure plant native to the swamp and marshlands.Much confusion concerning Gallows-weed came from the strange fact that some Loremasters used the name actually to refer to two entirely different plants:Hemp and the mandrake.
The origin for this confusion was the fact that hemp was used to make rope, so gallowsnooses were made of hemp too, hence the name "gallows-weed" was applied to the plant.The name "Gallows-weed" for the mandrake came from the superstitious believes of the Men of Darkness who believed that a mandrake was a magical plant which was in truth a "homunculus" or "living tiny creature" grown in the earth beneath a gallow from the urin or semen of a hanged man.