Datura is a genus of nine species of poisonous vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds but are also known as devil's trumpets. Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed and hell's bells. All species of Datura are poisonous and potentially psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, psychosis, and even death if taken internally. Due to its effects and symptoms, it has occasionally been used not only as a poison, but also as a hallucinogen by various groups throughout history. Traditionally, psychoactive administration of daturas has often been associated with witchcraft and sorcery or similar practices in many cultures, including the Western world. Certain common datura species have also been used ritualistically as entheogens by some Native American groups. Non-psychoactive use of the plant is usually done for medicinal purposes and the alkaloids present in plants of the datura genus have long been considered traditional medicines in both the New and Old Worlds due to the presence of the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine, which are also produced by Old World plants such as hyoscyamus niger, atropa belladonna and mandragora officinarum.
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844 the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Most of these smaller groups eventually coalesced into the Community of Christ, and the term Mormon typically refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as today this branch is far larger than all the others combined. People who identify as Mormons may also be independently religious, secular and non-practicing, or belong to other denominations.
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 30s.
In biology, poisons are substances that can cause death, injury or harm to organs, usually by chemical reactions or other activity on the molecular scales, when an organism is exposed to a sufficient quantity.
Toxicodendron radicans, commonly known as eastern poison ivy or poison ivy, is an allergenic Asian and Eastern North American flowering plant in the genus Toxicodendron. The species is well known for causing urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, an itchy, irritating, and sometimes painful rash, in most people who touch it. The rash is caused by urushiol, a clear liquid compound in the plant's sap. The species is variable in its appearance and habit, and despite its common name, it is not a true ivy (Hedera), but rather a member of the cashew and pistachio family (Anacardiaceae). T. radicans is commonly eaten by many animals, and the seeds are consumed by birds, but poison ivy is most often thought of as an unwelcome weed. It is a different species from western poison ivy, Toxicodendron rydbergii, which has similar effects.
Poison Ivy is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in Batman stories. Poison Ivy was created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff, and made her debut in Batman #181.
Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a poisonous perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant (aubergine). It is native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. Its distribution extends from Great Britain in the west to western Ukraine and the Iranian province of Gilan in the east. It is also naturalised or introduced in some parts of Canada and the United States.
The San peoples, or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer groups that are the first nations of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. In 2017, Botswana was home to approximately 63,500 San people, which is roughly 2.8% of the country's population, making it the country with the highest population of San people.
Francis Xavier Bushman was an American film actor and director. His career as a matinee idol started in 1911 in the silent film His Friend's Wife. He gained a large female following and was one of the biggest stars of the 1910s and early 1920s.
Cicutoxin is a naturally-occurring poisonous chemical compound produced by several plants from the family Apiaceae including water hemlock (Cicuta species) and water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata). The compound contains polyene, polyyne, and alcohol functional groups and is a structural isomer of oenanthotoxin, also found in water dropwort. Both of these belong to the C17-polyacetylenes chemical class.
Richard Lyman Bushman is an American historian and academic who serves as the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. Bushman taught at Brigham Young University, Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Delaware before joining the history faculty at Columbia. Bushman is the author of Joseph Smith:Rough Stone Rolling, an important biography of Joseph Smith, and he serves as one of three general editors of the Joseph Smith Papers.
Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons secreted from the skin of the poison dart frog, and curare, a general term for a range of plant-derived arrow poisons used by the indigenous peoples of South America.
Diamphidia or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African genus of leaf beetle. Diamphidia in the Chrysomelidae family, the same family as the Colorado potato beetle.
Diamphotoxin is a toxin produced by larvae and pupae of the beetle genus Diamphidia. Diamphotoxin is a hemolytic, cardiotoxic, and highly labile single-chain polypeptide bound to a protein that protects it from deactivation.
Conium maculatum, the hemlock or poison hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. A hardy plant capable of living in a variety of environments, hemlock is widely naturalized in locations outside its native range, such as parts of North and South America, Australia and West Asia, to which it has been introduced.
Bushman poison can refer to a number of plants or insects used as ingredients by the San people when preparing arrow poisons:
Joseph Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religion that continues to the present with millions of global adherents.
Diamphidia nigroornata or Bushman arrow-poison beetle, is an African leaf beetle species in the genus Diamphidia.
Grevillea glauca, commonly known as bushman's clothes peg, cobblers peg tree or the beefwood tree, is a shrub or small tree that is native to Papua New Guinea and north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It usually grows to a height of between 2 and 10 metres and has leaves that are 6 to 20 cm long and 1 to 6.5 cm wide. Flowers are cream or greenish white and appear between April and August in the species' native range. These are followed by rounded follicles that are 2.4 to 4 cm long.
Bushman's River Mouth is a town in Ndlambe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
