Datura
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. The Mexican common names Toloache and Tolguacha derive from the Nahuatl name Tolohuaxihuitl meaning "the plant with the nodding head". Datura species are native to dry, temperate, and subtropical regions of the Americas and are distributed mostly in Mexico, which is considered the centre of origin of the genus. Datura ferox was long thought native to China, Datura metel to India and southeast Asia, and Datura leichardthii to Australia; however, recent research has shown these species to be early introductions from Central America.
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 and cultures throughout history. Traditionally, psychoactive administration of daturas has been most often 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.
Etymology
The name Datura is taken from Sanskrit धतूरा dhatūra 'thorn-apple', ultimately from Sanskrit धत्तूर ' 'white thorn-apple'. In the Ayurvedic text Sushruta Samhita different species of Datura are also referred to as ' and . Dhatura is offered to Shiva in Hinduism. Record of this name in English dates back to 1662. Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to one type in The Scarlet Letter as apple-Peru. In Mexico, its common name is toloache.Description
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, trumpet-shaped, 5–20 cm long and 4–12 cm broad at the mouth; colors vary from white to yellow, pink, 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 datura has a long history of use for causing delirious states and death. It was well known as an essential ingredient of ointments, potions and witches' brews, most notably Datura stramonium.
In India the species Datura 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. The larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Hypercompe indecisa, eat some Datura species.
Species and cultivars
It is difficult to classify Datura as to its species, and it often happens that the descriptions of new species 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.A group of South American species formerly placed in the genus Datura are now placed in the distinct genus Brugmansia 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 grossly misclassified as belonging to the genus Iochroma.
Datura specialists the Preissels accept only nine species of Datura:, but Kew's Plants of the World Online currently lists the following fourteen :
- 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
The case of Datura 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 Datura innoxia in the Greater Antilles, but evidence is mounting that it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent no later than the 2nd century C.E. - whether by natural or human agency is, as yet, unknown - making it one of the most ancient plant introductions from the New World to the Old.
Datura 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 within the genus. The specific name arenicola means "loving sand".
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
| Datura arenicola Gentry ex Bye & Luna | Sand thorn-apple, Baja datura, Vizcaíno Desert datura | Baja California Sur, Mexico. | |
| D. ceratocaula Jacq. | torna loco, Sister of Ololiuhqui, swamp datura | Mexico. | |
| D. discolor Bernh. | desert thorn-apple | Sonoran Desert of western North America | |
| D. ferox L. | long-spined thorn-apple | southeastern China | |
| D. innoxia Mill. | thorn-apple, downy thorn-apple, Indian-apple, moonflower, toloatzin, toloache | Southwestern United States, Central and South America | |
| D. leichhardtii F.Muell. ex Benth. | Leichhardt's datura | from Mexico to Guatemala | |
| D. metel L. | Hindu datura, Indian thorn-apple, devil's trumpet | Asia, Africa | |
| D. quercifolia Kunth | oak-leaved thorn-apple | Mexico and the Southwestern United States | |
| D. stramonium L. | jimsonweed, thorn-apple | Central America | |
| D. wrightii Regel | sacred datura, western jimsonweed, California jimsonweed, sacred thorn-apple, tolguacha, toloache | southwestern North America. |
American Brugmansia and Datura Society, Inc. 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 species
- D. lanosa
- D. suaveolens
Cultivation
Toxicity
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. 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.In traditional cultures, a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura was critical to minimize harm. Many tragic incidents result from modern users ingesting Datura. 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. There are also several reports in the medical literature of deaths from D. stramonium and D. ferox intoxication. Children are especially vulnerable to atropine poisoning.
In some parts of Europe and India, Datura has been a popular poison for suicide and murder. From 1950 to 1965, the State Chemical Laboratories in Agra, India, investigated 2,778 deaths caused by ingesting Datura. The Thugs were devotees of an Indian religious cult made up of robbers and assassins who strangled and/or poisoned their victims in rituals devoted to the Hindu goddess Kali. They were known to employ Datura in many such poisonings, using it also to induce drowsiness or stupefaction, making strangulation easier.
Datura toxins may be ingested accidentally by consumption of honey produced by several wasp species, including Brachygastra lecheguana, during the Datura blooming season. It appears that these semi-domesticated honey wasps collect Datura nectar for honey production which can lead to poisoning.
The US 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.
In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell, or cultivate Datura plants. Solanaceous tribes with a similar chemistry, include the Hyoscyameae, containing such well-known toxic species as Hyoscyamus niger and Atropa belladonna, the Solandreae containing the genus Solandra and the Mandragoreae, named for the famous Mandragora officinarum.
Effects of ingestion
Due to the potent combination of anticholinergic substances it contains, Datura intoxication typically produces effects similar to that of an anticholinergic delirium ; hyperthermia; tachycardia; bizarre, and possibly violent behavior; and severe mydriasis with resultant painful photophobia that can last several days. Muscle stiffness, urinary retention, temporary paralysis, and confusion is often reported and pronounced amnesia is another commonly reported effect.Psychoactive use
Datura is considered a deliriant. 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.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. The overwhelming majority of those who describe their use of Datura find their experiences extremely unpleasant both mentally and often physically dangerous. 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. Adequate knowledge of Datura properties is necessary to facilitate a safe experience.
The Southern Paiute believe Datura can help locate missing objects. In ancient Mexico, Datura also played an important role in the religion of the Aztecs and the practices of their medicine men and necromancers.
Bernardino de Sahagún, in around 1569, called attention to Datura in the following 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.”