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Chinese thorn-apple, oak-leaf jimsonweed or thorn-apple

Habit Herbs annual, to 8 dm.
Stems

hairy, sometimes villous.

Leaf

blades elliptic to narrowly ovate, to 16 × 10 cm, margins usually pinnately lobed, sometimes sinuate-dentate, abaxial surface hairy, adaxial surface glabrescent.

Flowers

calyx hairy along veins, tube cylindric, 5-toothed;

corolla whitish to purple, trumpet-shaped, 4–8 cm, acuminate lobes alternating with sinuses.

Capsules

erect, dehiscent by 4 valves, pericarp dry, glabrous or hairy, with prickles unequal, proximals shorter than distals;

calyx remnant not accrescent.

Seeds

black, 3–5 mm, convex marginal ridge absent, testa rugose;

caruncle absent.

2n

= 24.

Datura quercifolia

Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Gardens, cultivated fields, irriga­tion ditches, margins of roads and trails, waste places in various types of vegetation.
Elevation 0–2200 m. (0–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; GA; KS; LA; MA; MD; NC; NM; OK; OR; PA; SC; TX; Mexico
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Discussion

Datura quercifolia is native to the Chihuahuan Desert, where it hybridizes occasionally with introduced D. stramonium. In the flora area, it is native to Texas and possibly New Mexico. Its geographic range is expanding especially in agricultural habitats. Although recently documented in central California (former orange orchard in Riverside; 1984, 1996), it has not expanded its range in that state.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Datura
Sibling taxa
D. ceratocaula, D. discolor, D. ferox, D. innoxia, D. metel, D. stramonium, D. wrightii
Name authority Kunth in A. von Humboldt et al.: Nov. Gen. Sp., 3(fol.): 6; 3(qto.): 7. (1818)
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