Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use dmy dates Template:Automatic taxobox
Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae).<ref>1959 Avery, Amos Geer, Satina, Sophie and Rietsema, Jacob Blakeslee: the genus Datura, foreword and biographical sketch by Edmund W. Sinnott, pub. New York : Ronald Press Co.</ref> They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets or mad apple<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (not to be confused with angel's trumpets, which are placed in the closely related genus Brugmansia). 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 toxidrome, psychosis, and death if taken internally.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The name Datura originates from the Hindi and Sanskrit words for “thorn-apple,” with historical and cultural significance in Ayurveda and Hinduism, while the English term “Jimsonweed” derives from its prevalence in Jamestown, Virginia, where it was called “Jamestown-Weed.” Datura species are herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial plants up to 2 meters tall with trumpet-shaped flowers and spiny fruit capsules, historically used in traditional medicine, especially in India, where they hold cultural and ritual significance. Datura species classification is complex due to high variability and overlapping traits among species, with many “new species” later reclassified as local varieties or subspecies; most species are native to Mexico, though some have disputed native ranges outside the Americas, and the genus is closely related to Brugmansia and the recently established Trompettia.
Due to their effects and symptoms, Datura species have occasionally been used not only as poisons, but also as hallucinogens by various groups throughout history.<ref name="Fatur-2020">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Kennedy-2014">Template:Cite book</ref> Traditionally, their psychoactive administration has often been associated with witchcraft and sorcery or similar practices in many cultures, including the Western world.<ref name="Kennedy-2014"/><ref name="Hansen-1978">Hansen, Harold A. The Witch's Garden pub. Unity Press 1978 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Rätsch, Christian, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications pub. Park Street Press 2005</ref> Certain common Datura species have also been used ritualistically as entheogens by some Native American groups.<ref>Cecilia Garcia; James D. Adams (2005). Healing with medicinal plants of the west – cultural and scientific basis for their use. Abedus Press. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Non-psychoactive use of plants in the genus is usually done for medicinal purposes, and the alkaloids present in some species 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 plants associated with Old World medicine such as Hyoscyamus niger, Atropa belladonna, and Mandragora officinarum.<ref name="Fatur-2020"/><ref name="Kennedy-2014"/><ref name="Schultes-1979">Schultes, Richard Evans; Hofmann, Albert (1979). The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens (2nd ed.). Springfield Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.</ref>
EtymologyEdit
The generic name Datura is taken from Hindi धतूरा Template:Transliteration "thorn-apple",<ref>American Heritage Dictionary: datura</ref> ultimately from Sanskrit धत्तूर Template:IAST "white thorn-apple" (referring to Datura metel of Asia).<ref name="Monier-Williams-1899">Template:MWSD</ref> In the Ayurvedic text Sushruta Samhita, different species of Datura are also referred to as Template:IAST and Template:IAST.<ref name="Monier-Williams-1899"/> Dhatura is offered to Shiva in Hinduism. Record of this name in English dates back to 1662.<ref>the Oxford English Dictionary or OED</ref> Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to one type in The Scarlet Letter as "apple-Peru". In Mexico, its common name is toloache. The Mexican common name Template:Wikt-lang (also spelled {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) derives from the Nahuatl {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, meaning "the plant with the nodding head" (in reference to the nodding seed capsules of Datura species belonging to section Dutra of the genus).
The term "Jimsonweed" is said to come from the American colony Jamestown. In Jamestown datura was common,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was referred to as "Jamestown-Weed" by one Virginian, Robert Beverley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This then turned into the term "Jimsonweed".
DescriptionEdit
Datura species are herbaceous, leafy annuals and short-lived perennials, which can reach up to 2 m in height. The leaves are alternate, 10–20 cm long, and 5–18 cm broad, with a lobed or toothed margin. The flowers are erect or spreading (not pendulous like those of Brugmansia), trumpet-shaped, 5–20 cm long, and 4–12 cm broad at the mouth; colours vary from white to yellow and pale purple. The fruit is a spiny capsule, 4–10 cm long and 2–6 cm broad, splitting open when ripe to release the numerous seeds. The seeds disperse freely over pastures, fields, and even wasteland locations.
Datura belongs to the classic "witches' weeds", along with deadly nightshade, henbane, and mandrake. All parts of the plants are toxic, and the genus has a long history of use for causing delirious states and death. It was well known as an essential ingredient of magical ointments, potions, and witches' brews, most notably Datura stramonium.<ref name="Preissel-2002"/><ref>Schultes, Richard Evans; Hofmann, Albert (1979). The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens (2nd ed.). Springfield Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. pps. 261-4.</ref>
In India, D. metel has long been regarded as a poison and aphrodisiac, having been used in Ayurveda as a medicine since ancient times. It features in rituals and prayers to Shiva and also in Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival devoted to the deity Ganesha.<ref name="Siklós-1993"/> The larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species, including Hypercompe indecisa, eat some Datura species. It has been observed that while insects may prefer to feed on Datura leaves, other animals such as cows will generally avoid consuming them.
Species and cultivarsEdit
Classifying Datura as to its species is difficult, and the descriptions of new species often are accepted prematurely. Later, these "new species" are found to be simply varieties that have evolved due to conditions at a specific location. They usually disappear in a few years. Contributing to the confusion is the fact that various species, such as D. wrightii and D. inoxia, are very similar in appearance, and the variation within a species can be extreme. For example, Datura species can change size of plant, leaf, and flowers, all depending on location. The same species, when growing in a half-shady, damp location can develop into a flowering bush half as tall as an adult human of average height, but when growing in a very dry location, will only grow into a thin plant not much more than ankle high, with tiny flowers and a few miniature leaves.<ref name="Preissel-2002">Template:Cite book</ref> Datura species are native to dry, temperate, and subtropical regions. Most species are native to Mexico, which is considered the center of origin of the genus. Several species are considered to have extra-American native ranges: D. ferox (native to China), D. metel (native to India and Southeast Asia), and D. leichardthii (native to Australia), however these may be early introductions from Central America.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A group of South American species formerly placed in the genus Datura are now placed in the distinct genus Brugmansia<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (Brugmansia differs from Datura in that it is woody (the species being shrubs or small trees) and has indehiscent fruits.) The solanaceous tribe Datureae, to which Datura and Brugmansia belong, has recently acquired a new, monotypic genus Trompettia J. Dupin, featuring the species Trompettia cardenasiana, which had hitherto been misclassified as belonging to the genus Iochroma.
Datura specialists, the Preissels, accept only 9 species of Datura,<ref name="Preissel-2002"/> but Kew's Plants of the World Online currently lists the following 14 (out of which the current edition of The Plant List does not list D. arenicola, D. lanosa, and D. pruinosa as accepted spp.):
- Datura arenicola Gentry ex Bye & Luna
- Datura ceratocaula Ortega
- Datura discolor Bernh.
- Datura ferox L.
- Datura innoxia Mill.
- Datura kymatocarpa Barclay
- Datura lanosa A.S.Barclay ex Bye
- Datura leichhardtii Benth.
- Datura metel L.
- Datura pruinosa Greenm.
- Datura quercifolia Kunth
- Datura reburra Barclay
- Datura stramonium L.
- Datura wrightii Regel
Of the above, D. leichhardtii is close enough to D. pruinosa to merit demotion to a subspecies and likewise D. ferox and D. quercifolia are close enough in morphology to merit being subsumed in a single species. Furthermore, the Australian provenance of D. leichhardtii, the Chinese provenance of D. ferox, and the Afro-Asiatic provenance of D. metel have been cast into serious doubt, with the three species being almost certainly post-Columbian introductions to the regions to which they were originally thought native.<ref name="Symon-1991"/>
The case of D. metel is unique in that not only is the plant not a true species at all, but an assemblage of ancient pre-Columbian cultivars created from D. innoxia in the Greater Antilles, but evidence is mounting that it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent no later than the second century CE – whether by natural or human agency is, as yet, unknown – making it one of the most ancient plant introductions (if not the most ancient) from the New World to the Old World (see Columbian Exchange).<ref name="Symon-1991">'Datura (Solanaceae) is a New World Genus' by D.E. Symon and L. Haegi in (page 197 of) Solanaceae III: Taxonomy Chemistry Evolution, Editors J.G. Hawkes, R.N. Lester, M. Nee, & N. Estrada, published by The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK for The Linnean Society of London 1991. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name="Siklós-1993">Template:Cite journal Republished as: Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Cavazos-2000">Template:Cite journal</ref>
D. arenicola is a remarkable new species, described only in 2013, of very restricted range, and so distinctive as to have merited the creation for it of the new section Discola [not to be confused with the species name D. discolor] within the genus. The specific name arenicola means "loving (i.e. "thriving in") sand".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Datura arenicola Gentry ex Bye & Luna | Sand thorn-apple, Baja datura, Vizcaíno Desert datura | Baja California Sur, Mexico | |
| File:Datura ceratocaula.jpg | D. ceratocaula Jacq. | torna loco, Sister of Ololiuhqui, swamp datura | Mexico. |
| File:Whiteflower8.jpg | D. discolor Bernh. (syn. D. kymatocarpa, D. reburra) | desert thorn-apple | Sonoran Desert of western North America |
| File:Datura ferox.JPG | D. ferox L. | long-spined thorn-apple | southeastern China (disputed<ref name="Symon-1991"/>) |
| File:Datura inoxia (8482127654).jpg | D. innoxia Mill. | thorn-apple, downy thorn-apple, Indian-apple, moonflower, toloatzin, toloache | Southwestern United States, Central and South America (cosmopolitan weed) |
| File:Datura leichhardtii stamens.jpg | D. leichhardtii F.Muell. ex Benth. (syn. D. pruinosa) | Leichhardt's datura | from Mexico to Guatemala |
| File:Brugmansia metel syn Datura.png | D. metel L. | Hindu datura, Indian thorn-apple, devil's trumpet<ref name="Preissel-2002"/> | Asia, Africa (disputed<ref name="Symon-1991"/>) |
| File:Datura quercifolia flower.jpg | D. quercifolia Kunth | oak-leaved thorn-apple | Mexico and the Southwestern United States |
| File:Datura stramonium 003.JPG | D. stramonium L. (syn. D. inermis, D. bernhardii) | jimsonweed, thorn-apple, devil's snare | Central America (cosmopolitan weed) |
| File:Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 1.jpg | D. wrightii Regel | sacred datura, western jimsonweed, California jimsonweed, Momoy, sacred thorn-apple, tolguacha, toloache | Southwestern United States |
.jpg){kind=link}
American Brugmansia and Datura Society, Inc. (ABADS) is designated in the 2004 edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants as the official International Cultivar Registration Authority for Datura. This role was delegated to ABADS by the International Society for Horticultural Science in 2002.
Past classified speciesEdit
CultivationEdit
Datura species are usually sown annually from the seed produced in the spiny capsules, but, with care, the tuberous-rooted perennial species may be overwintered. Most species are suited to being planted outside or in containers. As a rule, they need warm, sunny places and soil that will keep their roots dry. When grown outdoors in good locations, the plants tend to reseed themselves and may become invasive. In containers, they should have porous, aerated potting soil with adequate drainage. The plants are susceptible to fungi in the root area, so anaerobic organic enrichment such as anaerobically composted organic matter or manure, should be avoided.<ref name="Preissel-2002"/>
ToxicityEdit
All Datura plants contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine and atropine, primarily in their seeds and flowers, as well as the roots of certain species such as D. wrightii. Because of the presence of these substances, Datura has been used for centuries in some cultures as a poison.<ref name="Preissel-2002"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Fatur-2020"/> A given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and the local weather conditions. These variations make Datura exceptionally hazardous as a drug. Since datura directly causes the effects of anticholinergic syndrome, the symptoms of its toxicity are often cited by the traditional mnemonic: "Blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone".<ref name="Holzman-1998">Template:Cite journal citing J. Arena, Poisoning: Toxicology-Symptoms-Treatments, 3rd edition. Springfield, Charles C. Thomas, 1974, p 345</ref> Datura, as well as long-term psychoactive/toxic usage of other anticholinergic drugs, also appear to significantly increase the risk of developing dementia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In traditional cultures, a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura was critical to minimize harm.<ref name="Preissel-2002"/> Many tragic incidents result from modern users ingesting or smoking Datura.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> For example, in the 1990s and 2000s, the United States media reported stories of adolescents and young adults dying or becoming seriously ill from intentionally ingesting Datura.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Deliberate or inadvertent poisoning resulting from smoking jimsonweed and other related species has been reported as well.<ref name="Pennachio-2010">Template:Cite book</ref> Although most poisonings occur with more common species of Datura such as D. stramonium, several reports in the medical literature indicate deaths from D. ferox intoxication.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Children are especially vulnerable to atropine poisoning.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In some parts of Europe and India, Datura has been a popular poison for suicide and murder.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> From 1950 to 1965, the State Chemical Laboratories in Agra, India, investigated 2,778 deaths caused by ingesting Datura.<ref name="Preissel-2002" /><ref name="Andrews-2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A group called Thugs (practicers of thuggee) were reportedly devotees of an Indian religious cult made up of robbers and assassins who strangled or poisoned their victims in rituals devoted to the Hindu goddess Kali. They were alleged to employ Datura in many such poisonings, using it also to induce drowsiness or stupefaction, making strangulation easier.<ref name="Dash-2005">Dash, Mike Thug: the true story of India's murderous cult Template:ISBN, 2005</ref>
Datura toxins may be ingested accidentally by consumption of honey produced by several wasp species, including Brachygastra lecheguana, during the Datura blooming season. These semi-domesticated honey wasps apparently collect Datura nectar for honey production, which can lead to poisoning.<ref name="Bequaert-1933">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported accidental poisoning resulting in hospitalization for a family of six who inadvertently ingested Datura used as an ingredient in stew.<ref name="CDCP-2010">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In some places around the world, such as India due to the Drug & Cosmetic Act 1940 & Rule 1995, buying, selling, or cultivating Datura plants is prohibited.<ref name="Preissel-2002" /><ref name="Andrews-2013" /> Solanaceous tribes with a similar chemistry (i.e. a similar tropane alkaloid content), include the Hyoscyameae, containing such well-known toxic species as Hyoscyamus niger and Atropa belladonna, the Solandreae containing the genus Solandra ("chalice vines") and the Mandragoreae, named for the famous Mandragora officinarum, most of which are considered traditional witches' herbs and poisons.
Effects of ingestionEdit
Datura is considered a deliriant. Due to the potent combination of anticholinergic substances it contains, Datura intoxication typically produces the effects of anticholinergic delirium (usually involving a complete or relative inability to differentiate reality from fantasy); bizarre thoughts, hyperthermia; tachycardia; bizarre, and possibly violent behavior; dry skin; dry mouth; illusions; and severe mydriasis (dilated pupils) with resultant painful photophobia that can last several days.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Muscle stiffness, urinary retention, temporary paralysis, disrobing, emotional bluntness, dysphoria, and confusion are often reported, and pronounced amnesia is another commonly reported effect.<ref name="Freye-2009">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The psychoactive alkaloids scopolamine and atropine are also both known for their characteristic hyperactive effects and ability to cause stark and dream-like hallucinations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Forest-2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The onset of symptoms generally occurs around 30 to 60 minutes after ingesting the herb. These symptoms generally last from 24 to 48 hours, but have been reported in some cases to last two weeks or longer.<ref name="Pennachio-2010"/><ref name="Bliss-2001">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
TreatmentEdit
Due to their agitated behavior and confused mental state, people with acute Datura poisoning or intoxication are typically hospitalized. Gastric lavage and the administration of activated charcoal can be used to reduce the stomach's absorption of the ingested material, and the drug physostigmine is used to reverse the effect of the poisons. Benzodiazepines can be given to calm the patient's agitation, and supportive care with oxygen, hydration, and symptomatic treatment is often provided. Observation of the patient is indicated until the symptoms resolve, usually from 24 to 36 hours after ingestion of the Datura.<ref name="Andrews-2013" /><ref name="Bliss-2001"/>
Psychoactive useEdit
In Pharmacology and Abuse of Cocaine, Amphetamines, Ecstasy and Related Designer Drugs, Freye asserts, "Few substances have received as many severely negative recreational experience reports as has Datura."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The overwhelming majority of those who describe their use of Datura find their experiences extremely unpleasant ─ both mentally and often physically.<ref name="Freye-2009" /> However, anthropologists have found that indigenous groups, with a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura, have been known to use Datura spiritually (including the Navajo and especially the Havasupai).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Adequate knowledge of DaturaTemplate:'s properties is necessary to facilitate a safe experience.<ref name="Preissel-2002" /> The ancient inhabitants of what became central and southern California used to ingest Datura to "commune with deities through visions".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Southern Paiute believe Datura can help locate missing objects.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In ancient Mexico, Datura also played an important role in the religion of the Aztecs and the practices of their medicine men and necromancers.<ref name="Safford-1916">Template:Cite book</ref> It was reportedly used by the Aztecs for ritual sacrifice and malevolent purposes as well.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In modern-day Mexico, some datura species are still used for sorcery and other occult practices, mostly in the southern region of Veracruz, specifically in the city of Catemaco.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref><ref name="Budd-2002">Template:Cite news</ref>
Bernardino de Sahagún, in around 1569, called attention to Datura in these words: "It is administered in potions in order to cause harm to those who are objects of hatred. Those who eat it have visions of fearful things. Magicians or those who wish to harm someone administer it in food or drink. This herb is medicinal and its seed is used as a remedy for gout, ground up and applied to the part affected."<ref name="Safford-1916"/>
Christian Rätsch has said, "A mild dosage produces medicinal and healing effects, a moderate dosage produces aphrodisiac effects, and high dosages are used for shamanic purposes". Wade Davis, an ethnobotanist, also lists it as an essential ingredient of Haitian zombie potion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Western culture, the same species (Datura stramonium) has been said to have been commonly used by witches as an ingredient for their flying ointments and was regularly included in detailed recipes of magical ointments dating back as far as the early modern period, predominately in New England and Western Europe.<ref name="Hansen-1978"/><ref name="Schultes-1979"/><ref name="Kuklin-1999">Template:Cite book</ref> During the anti-witchcraft hysteria of colonial times it was considered unlucky or inappropriate to grow D. stramonium in one's garden due to its supposed reputation for aiding in incantations.<ref name="Grieve-1971">Template:Cite book</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Datura stramonium RF.jpg
D. stramonium (lateral view) near Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
- Datura wrightii, Twentynine Palms California - 2014-07.jpg
D. wrightii in bloom (lateral view) near Twentynine Palms, California, U.S.
- Datura Flower on the plant (Lateral View) near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India 01.jpg
Datura flower on the plant (lateral view) near Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Datura Flower on the plant (Top View) near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India 02.jpg
Datura flower on the plant (top view) near Hyderabad, Telangana, India
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
Further readingEdit
{{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:Cholinergics Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control