Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets or mad apple. Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed, and hell's bells. All species of Datura are extremely poisonous and psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, anticholinergic syndrome, psychosis, and death if taken internally.
Datura stramonium, known by the common names thornapple, jimsonweed, or devil's trumpet, is a poisonous flowering plant in the Daturae tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its likely origin was in Central America, and it has been introduced in many world regions. It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates and tropical climates across the world. D. stramonium has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen, taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions. It is unlikely ever to become a major drug of abuse owing to effects upon both mind and body frequently perceived as being highly unpleasant, giving rise to a state of profound and long-lasting disorientation or delirium with a potentially fatal outcome. It contains tropane alkaloids which are responsible for the psychoactive effects, and may be severely toxic.
Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes and aubergine (eggplant). It is native to Europe and Western Asia, including Turkey. Its distribution extends from Ireland 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, North Africa and the United States.
Hyoscyamine is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid and plant toxin. It is a secondary metabolite found in certain plants of the family Solanaceae, including henbane, mandrake, angel's trumpets, jimsonweed, the sorcerers' tree, and Atropa belladonna. It is the levorotary isomer of atropine and thus sometimes known as levo-atropine.
Datura wrightii, commonly known as sacred datura, is a poisonous perennial plant species and ornamental flower of the family Solanaceae native to the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is sometimes used as a hallucinogen due to its psychoactive alkaloids. D. wrightii is classified as an anticholinergic deliriant.
Brugmansia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. They are woody trees or shrubs, with pendulous flowers, and have no spines on their fruit. Their large, fragrant flowers give them their common name of angel's trumpets, adjacent to the nickname devil's trumpets of the closely related genus Datura.
Datura metel is a shrub-like annual or short-lived, shrubby perennial, commonly known in Europe as Indian thornapple, Hindu Datura, or metel and in the United States as devil's trumpet or angel's trumpet. Datura metel is naturalised in all the warmer countries of the world. It is found notably in India, where it is known by the ancient, Sanskrit-derived, Hindi name dhatūra (धतूरा), from which the genus name Datura is derived.
The ancient Aztecs employed a variety of entheogenic plants and animals within their society. The various species have been identified through their depiction on murals, vases, and other objects.
Datura discolor, also called the desert thorn-apple, is an herbaceous annual plant native to the Sonoran Desert of western North America, where it grows in sandy soils and washes. All parts of the plant contain a mix of alkaloids that are potentially lethal when enough is ingested.
Brugmansia versicolor is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae, commonly known as “angel’s trumpets”. They are endemic to Ecuador. Since March 2014, they have been listed as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN.
Datura leichhardtii is a species of thorn apple in the genus Datura. In 1844, Ludwig Leichhardt discovered this species in Australia. Ferdinand von Mueller gave it the name Datura leichhardtii when he published his first description of it in 1855.
Brugmansia suaveolens, Brazil's white angel trumpet, also known as angel's tears and snowy angel's trumpet, is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to south eastern Brazil, but thought to be extinct in the wild. Like several other species of Brugmansia, it exists as an introduced species in areas outside its native range. It is a tender shrub or small tree with large semi-evergreen leaves and fragrant yellow or white trumpet-shaped flowers.
Datura quercifolia, commonly known as the oak-leaved thorn-apple, is a small shrub in the genus Datura that is native to Mexico and the Southwestern United States. It grows equally well in dry and moist soils and requires full sun. It contains a mix of alkaloids that are poisonous and can be potentially lethal when ingested.
Datura ceratocaula is a species of Datura. It is weed-like in its natural habitat, but is grown in gardens and yards as an ornamental plant. The flower has a sweet smell. It is an annual plant that originally came from Mexico.
Datura ferox, commonly known as long spined thorn apple and fierce thornapple, as well as Angel's-trumpets, is a species of Datura. Like all such species, every part of the plant contains deadly toxins that can kill animals that ingest it. Its fruit, red-brown when ripe, has unusually long thorns or spikes.
Datura lanosa is a species of Datura. Some contemporary botanists classify this plant not as a separate species, but as a variety of Datura wrightii or Datura innoxia.
Brugmansia sanguinea, the red angel's trumpet, is a species of South American flowering shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Brugmansia in tribe Datureae of subfamily Solanoideae of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It has been cultivated and used as an entheogen for shamanic purposes by the South American Natives for centuries - possibly even millennia.
Littorine is a tropane alkaloid found in a variety of plants including Datura and Atropa belladonna. It is closely related in chemical structure to atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine, which all share a common biosynthetic pathway.
Meteloidine is an alkaloid found in some Brugmansia and Datura species. Its also found in Erythroxylum australe and is said to be cocaine-like alkaloid.
The Solanaceae, or the nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many—including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell, and chili peppers—are used as food. The family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a great diversity of habitats, morphology and ecology.
