Datura
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Datura
Datura stramonium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Datura
L.
Species
See text below

Datura is a genus of about nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. Their exact natural distribution is uncertain, due to extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe, but is most likely restricted to the Americas, from the United States south through Mexico (where the highest species diversity occurs). Some South American plants formerly thought of as Daturas are now treated as belonging to the distinct genus Brugmansia.[1]

Contents

Description

Datura is a genus of woody-stalked, leafy annuals and short-lived perennials which can reach up to 2 meters in height. The plants produce spiney seed pods and large white or purple trumpet-shaped flowers. Most parts of the plants contain atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine. Datura has a long history of use both in S. America and Europe and is known for causing delirious states and poisonings in uninformed users. 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 the closely allied Brugmansiae), trumpet-shaped, 5-20 cm long and 4-12 cm broad at the mouth; colours 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.

Common names include Jimson Weed, Moonflower, Hell's Bells, Devil's Weed, Devil's Cucumber, Thorn-Apple (from the spiny fruit), Pricklyburr (similarly), and Devil's Trumpet, (from their large trumpet-shaped flowers), or as Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to it in the the Scarlet Letter, Apple-Peru. The word Datura comes from Hindi Dhatūrā (thorn apple); record of this name dates back only to 1662 (OED). This Hindi word is derived from Sanskrit vedic literature dating back to long before 2000 BCcitation needed.

Datura species are food plants for the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including Hypercompe indecisa.

Species

Some species formerly included in Datura are now classified in the separate genus Brugmansia; this genus differs in being woody, making shrubs or small trees, and in having pendulous flowers. Other related genera include Hyoscyamus and Atropa.

Cultivation and uses

Fruit
Fruit
D. inoxia with ripe, split-open fruit
D. inoxia with ripe, split-open fruit

Datura contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine and has been used in some cultures as a poison and hallucinogen.[2]

The dose-response curve for the combination of alkaloids is very[3] steep, so people who consume datura can easily take a potentially fatal overdose, hence its use as a poison. In the 1990s and 2000s, the United States media contained stories of adolescents and young adults dying or becoming seriously ill from intentionally ingesting datura.[4]

Records of use

Datura stramonium is also called jimsonweed. This name comes from the town of Jamestown, Virginia. Various versions of the story exist, but in the most common version, British soldiers sent to quell Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 were accidentally served this unfamiliar plant as food, causing many to be incapacitated for 11 days. Datura wrightii, also called sacred datura or western jimsonweed, has similar effects.

Chaitanya Charitamrita, a 16th century biography of the saint Caitanya who was known for his fervent religious ecstasies, describes an incident (2.18.165, 183) where Muslim soldiers, unable to comprehend his state of trance, apprehend four of his companions on suspicion of their poisoning him with dhuturā with an aim to loot his possessions. Upon regaining consciousness, Caitanya attributes his trance episode to epilepsy.

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: a complete inability to differentiate reality from fantasy (frank delirium, as contrasted to hallucination); hyperthermia; tachycardia; bizarre, and possibly violent behavior; and severe mydriasis with resultant painful photophobia that can last several days. Pronounced amnesia is another commonly reported effect.[5]

According to the drug information site Erowid, no other substance has received as many "Train Wreck" severely negative experience reports as has Datura[6], noting that "the overwhelming majority of those who describe to us their use of Datura (and to a lesser extent, Belladonna, Brugmansia and Brunfelsia) find their experiences extremely mentally and physically unpleasant and not infrequently physically dangerous."

The full listing of reports can be found at www.erowid.org. Numerous stories of datura-related deaths and critical illnesses can also be found at the Lycaeum Datura index here.

Cultural references

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In literature

The distinctive datura flower
The distinctive datura flower

In music

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In film

  • In the movie XXX the darts used to knock out Xander (Vin Diesel) and that he later uses to appear to kill an undercover policeman are referred to as 'Datura knockout darts' by their creator.citation needed
  • Datura is one of the ingredients in 'zombie powder' in the movie Serpent and the Rainbow.citation needed
  • Sanjay Dutt says "Meri maa ko kisine Dhaturah khilaya hai" (Someone fed my mother Dhaturah) in the film Khalnayak after she disowns him.citation needed

In games

In Visual Art

References

  1. ^ Hawkes, J.G. (ed.); R.N. Lester, M. Nee, N. Estrada (1991). Solanaceae III – Taxonomy, Chemistry, Evolution (Proceedings of Third International Conference on Solanaceae). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 197-210. ISBN 0947643311. 
  2. ^ Adams, Jr., James D.; Cecilia Garcia (2005-10-10). "Spirit, Mind and Body in Chumash Healing". Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2 (4): 459–463. doi:10.1093/ecam/neh130. PMID 16322802. Retrieved on 2008-01-21. 
  3. ^ . AJ Giannini, AE Slaby, MC Giannini. Handbook of Overdose and Detoxification Emergencies. New Hyde Park, NY. 1983.
  4. ^ "Suspected Moonflower Intoxication (Ohio, 2002)" (HTML). CDC. Retrieved on September 30, 2006.
  5. ^ AJ Giannini. Drugs of Abuse--Second Edition. Los Angeles, Practice Management Information Corp.,1997.
  6. ^ http://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=227 Erowid.org, "Ask Erowid". Retrieved 17 JAN 08
  7. ^ Attitude (UK) - November 1999

External links
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