DATURAL. - DEVIL'S TRUMPETS
Scientific Description:
Annuals. Leaves sinuate-dentate to entire. Flowers solitary, axillary. Calyx tubular, 5-angled, upper part abscissing in fruit leaving a persistent basal part, which becomes reflexed or spreading. Corolla infundibular, long, twisted in bud, lobes acuminate. Stamens inserted near base of corolla. Fruit a septicidal capsule, opening by 4 valves, prickly or tuberculate.
Reference:
Baytop A (1978). Datura L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 6: 451.
Public Description:
Datura, known as “devil’s trumpets”, is a vespertine annual or short-lived perennial plants, and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe. The genus is characterized by large trumpet-shaped flowers and prickly fruits. There are approximately 13 species in the world and 3 species (3 taxa) in Türkiye. All species of the genus Datura are poisonous, especially their seeds and flowers contain toxic alkaloids such as “scopolamine, “hyoscyamine”, and “atropine”. Because of the presence of these substances, Datura has been used for centuries in some cultures as a poison. In some parts of Europe and India, Datura has been a popular poison for suicide and murder. From 1950 to 1965, the State Chemical Laboratories in Agra, India, investigated 2,778 deaths caused by ingesting Datura.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2016) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura/,Accessed date: 06.11.2016.
Anonymous 2 (2016) https://global.britannica.com/plant/Datura/,Accessed date: 06.11.2016.
Anonymous 3 (2016) http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Solanaceae/Datura//,Accessed date: 06.11.2016.
Güner A (2012) Datura L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 871–872.
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