Datura stramonium
Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family
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Key Takeaways
- Datura stramonium , known by the common names thornapple , jimsonweed ( jimson weed ), or devil's trumpet , is a poisonous flowering plant in the Daturae tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae.
- It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates and tropical climates across the world.
- It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/antimuscarinic, deliriant type), taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions.
- It contains tropane alkaloids which are responsible for the psychoactive effects, and may be severely toxic.
- The root is long, thick, fibrous, and white.
Datura stramonium, known by the common names thornapple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), or devil's trumpet, is a poisonous flowering plant in the Daturae tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its likely origin was in Central America, and it has been introduced in many world regions. It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates and tropical climates across the world. D. stramonium has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/antimuscarinic, deliriant type), taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions. It is unlikely ever to become a major drug of abuse owing to effects upon both mind and body frequently perceived as being highly unpleasant, giving rise to a state of profound and long-lasting disorientation or delirium (anticholinergic syndrome) with a potentially fatal outcome. It contains tropane alkaloids which are responsible for the psychoactive effects, and may be severely toxic.
Description
Datura stramonium is an erect, annual, freely branching herb that forms a bush 60 to 150 cm (2 to 5 ft) tall.
The root is long, thick, fibrous, and white. The stem is stout, erect, leafy, smooth, and pale yellow-green to reddish purple in color. The stem forks off repeatedly into branches and each fork forms a leaf and a single, erect flower.
The leaves are about 8 to 20 cm (3–8 in) long, smooth, toothed, soft, and irregularly undulated. The upper surface of the leaves is a darker green, and the bottom is a light green. The leaves have a bitter and nauseating taste, which is imparted to extracts of the herb, and remains even after the leaves have been dried.
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