Plant of the Month   ~~   SEPTEMBER 2008

updated on or about the 1st of each month

DATURA Common Name(s): Datura, Jimson Weed, Sacred Datura, Mad Apple, Toloache, more Scientific Name: Datura species Family: Solanaceae, Nightshade family Plant Type: Annual or short-lived Perennial shrub Size: 6-8 feet wide, 3-5 feet high Common Habitat: full sun by roadsides, sandy or gravelly places

Datura is a tropical-looking plant with large, showy, fragrant white flowers. The entire plant is about 3-5 feet high and at least as wide. Flowers are tubular shaped and can be 10 inches long. Blooming of individual flowers occurs in the evening, with the flowers closing by the afternoon of the following day. After flowering a thorny, golfball-sized seed-pod forms. The foliage is gray-green, soft and hairy, with rubbery stems and leaves which are ovate and up to 5 inches long. While the flowers have a pleasant smell, the foliage has quite a different odor. Datura thrives in summer, and is commonly found along roadsides, in washes, or in other sandy places. It blooms from around March to November.

Datura has long been known to have poisonous and narcotic properties, and should not be ingested, inhaled, etc. in any fashion. Every now and then the unfortunate results of someone trying to use it appears in the news. Native people did use it for religious purposes, usually these were once-in-a-lifetime events.

Several species under the Datura genus occur locally. Datura wrightii is a native and probably the most common species found here. The name Jimson Weed most specifically belongs to Datura stramonium, a non-native - the "Jimson" derives from "Jamestown", where in incident in the Virginia town lends historical significance. Probably due to its showy appearance, abundance, and intriguing poisonous properties, there is a lot of literature online about this plant, including descriptions of its different species, and its poisonous effects.

Contributed by Liz Baumann

Curious what was featured in past Plants of the Month? Search the Archives.

References:

Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale
Roadside Plants of Southern California, by Thomas J. Belzer
California Native Plants for the Garden, by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien
California Herbal Remedies, by LoLo Westrich

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