Datura stramoniumL. Jimsonweed

Datura stramoniumL. - Jimsonweed

Scientific Description:

Shortly pubescent to glabrescent. Stems 40−200 cm, branched. Leaves petiolate, ovate, sinuate-dentate, to 20 × 15 cm. Calyx 3−4 cm. Corolla white, 5−9 cm. Capsule ovoid, 3−5 × 2.5−3.5 cm, erect, shortly pubescent, covered with spines to 10 mm, persistent part of calyx 4−8 mm.

 

Flowering time: May−November.

Habitat: Fields, waste places, roadsides, ruins, s.l.−950 m.

 

Reference:

Baytop A (1978). Datura stramonium L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 6: 451.

Public Description:

Datura stramonium, known as “jimsonweed”, is believed to have originated in Mexico, but today it has now become naturalized in many other countries around the world. It is an annual herbaceous plant that grow up to 2 m in length. The plant has large, white or violet-colored trumpet-shaped flowers and a large spiny fruit. It blooms between May and December and is found in fields, waste places, roadsides, and ruins. Datura has been used in folk medicine to relieve asthma symptoms and as an analgesic during surgery or bonesetting. However, due to the toxic alkaloids contained, taking a slightly higher dose from a medical dose can cause loss of consciousness and result in death.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium/,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.