Datura stramonium
datura, devil's apple or weed, jimson-weed, thorn-apple
sometimes purple, sparsely puberulent, glabrescent.
blades broadly ovate, to 22 × 12 cm, margins coarsely sinuate-dentate, surfaces glabrescent.
calyx hairy along veins, tube cylindric, 5-toothed;
corolla usually white, sometimes purplish, trumpet-shaped, (5–)6–11 cm, acuminate lobes alternating with sinuses.
erect, dehiscent by 4 valves, pericarp dry, glabrous or hairy, with prickles ± equal, to 15 mm;
calyx remnant not accrescent.
black, 3–4 mm, convex marginal ridge absent, testa rugose;
caruncle absent.
= 24.
Datura stramonium
Although a weed found throughout the world, Datura stramonium is probably native to central and southern Mexico and accompanied the expansion of Mesoamerican agriculture. Based upon a revised interpretation of ancient Latin and Greek texts, A. Touwaide (1998) argued that it was known in the Old World prior to the discovery of the New World in 1492. The delirious consequences of the British soldiers’ consumption of young leaves at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1676 led to the application of the common name of jimsonweed to D. stramonium (R. Beverley 1705).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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