| Datura innoxia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In cultivation | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Genus: | Datura |
| Species: | D. innoxia |
| Binomial name | |
| Datura innoxia | |
| Synonyms | |
Datura inoxia (orthographic variant) | |
Datura innoxia (often spelledinoxia), known aspricklyburr,[1]recurved thorn-apple,[2]downy thorn-apple,Indian-apple,lovache,moonflower,nacazcul,toloatzin,toloaxihuitl,tolguache ortoloache, is a species offlowering plant in the familySolanaceae. It is more rarely calledsacred datura, a common name which is applied more often to the closely relatedDatura wrightii. It is native to theSouthwestern United States,Central andSouth America, andintroduced inAfrica,Asia,Australia andEurope. The scientific name is often cited asD. innoxia.[3] When English botanistPhilip Miller first described the species in 1768, he misspelled the Latin wordinnoxia (inoffensive) when naming itD. inoxia. The nameDatura meteloides was for some time erroneously applied to some members of the species, but that name has now been abandoned.[4]
Datura innoxia is atuberous-rootedsubshrub that typically reaches a height of 0.6 to 1.5 metres.[5][6] Itsstems andleaves are covered with short and softgrayish hairs, giving the whole plant a grayish appearance. It hasellipticsmooth-edged leaves withpinnate venation. All parts of the plant emit a foul odor similar to rancid peanut butter when crushed or bruised, although most people find the fragrance of the flowers to be quite pleasant when they bloom at night.[7][citation needed]
The flowers arewhite,trumpet-shaped, 12–19 cm (4.5–7.5 in) long.[8] They first grow upright, and later incline downward. It flowers from early summer until late fall.
The fruit is anegg-shaped spinycapsule, about 5 cm in diameter. Like those of other species belonging to sectionDutra of the genus Datura, it splits open irregularly when ripe to disperse its seeds. Another means ofdispersal may also occur, in which the spiny fruit becomes entangled in thefur of animals, who then carry the fruit far from the mother plant. The seeds are long-lived, having the ability to liedormant in the soil for many years. The seeds and indeed the whole plant, have stronglydeliriant properties and a high potential foroverdose; the slow appearance of the effects leading to the erroneous belief that the dose taken has been ineffective.
In Europe often confused withDatura wrightii, for the distinction see that species.
Datura innoxia is quite similar toD. metel, to the point of being confused with it in early scientific literature.D. metel is a closely related plant, believed until recently to be ofOld World provenance (though now thought to have been brought to Asia from the Antilles no earlier than the sixteenth century) and misconstrued as being referred to in the works ofAvicenna in eleventh centuryPersia.D. stramonium differs in having much smaller flowers, seed capsules dehisceing by four distinct valves, and dentate leaves, while the more closely relatedD. wrightii differs in having wider, 5-toothed (instead of 10-toothed) flowers which are usually pinkish-violet rather than white.D. innoxia differs fromD. stramonium,D. metel andD. fastuosa in having about 7 to 10 secondary veins on either side of the midrib of the leaf which anastomose by arches at about 1 to 3 mm. from the margin. Noanastomosis of the secondary veins are seen in the other 4 major species ofDatura.
The currently-accepted botanical name for this plant isDatura innoxia, in spite of the fact that many references spell itDatura inoxia. According toTropicos, a widely accepted authority on botanical names, theinoxia form is due to an error originally made by 18th-century taxonomistPhilip Miller, and since corrected.[9][10]
Miller wrote that the "not noxious" name refers to the soft spines on the fruit, which are in contrast to the sharp spines on otherDatura species. (Miller refers to the ... "oval fruit, covered with long, soft, innocent spines" ...).[11]
All parts ofDatura plants are toxic, containing dangerous levels oftropane alkaloids (hyoscyamine, hyoscine)[12]and may be fatal if ingested by humans and other animals, including livestock and pets.[12] The main observed effects of ingestion are enlarged pupils, dry mouth, trouble breathing, blurred vision, hallucinations, panic, death. In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell or cultivateDatura plants.[4]
Whencultivated, the plant is usually treated as an annual to be grown from seed, but its tuberous roots (somewhat reminiscent of those of the cultivatedDahlia) can be kept from freezing and planted in the spring of the following year.[4]
Datura innoxia, like otherDatura species, contains the highly toxicalkaloidsatropine,hyoscine (scopolamine), andhyoscyamine. The Aztecs called the plant by theNahuatl namestoloatzin andtoloaxihuitl (trans. "the plant with the nodding head" - in reference to the nodding seed capsules) and used it long before theSpanish conquest of Mexico for many therapeutic purposes, such aspoultices for wounds where it acts as ananodyne.[citation needed] Although the Aztecs warned against madness and "various and vain imaginings", many Native Americans have used the plant as anentheogen for hallucinations and rites of passage. The alkaloids of these plants are very similar to those ofmandrake,deadly nightshade, andhenbane, which are also highly poisonous plants used cautiously for effective pain relief in antiquity.[13]
Datura intoxication typically produces a complete inability to differentiate reality from fantasy (delirium, as contrasted to hallucination);hyperthermia;tachycardia; bizarre, and possibly violent behavior; and severemydriasis with resultant painfulphotophobia that can last several days. Pronouncedamnesia is another commonly reported effect.[14] There can easily be a 5:1 variation in toxins from plant to plant, and a given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and local weather conditions. These wide variations makeDatura exceptionally hazardous to use as a drug. In traditional cultures, users needed to have a great deal of experience and detailed plant knowledge so that no harm resulted from using it.[4] Such knowledge is not widely available in modern cultures, so many unfortunate incidents result from ingestingDatura. In the 1990s and 2000s, the United States media contained stories ofadolescents and young adults dying or becoming seriously ill from intentionally ingestingDatura.[15]
It has also been planted throughout the world as anornamental plant for its attractive large leaves, large white flowers, and distinctive thorny fruit. However, the plant is now considered aninvasive species in several locations. For example, because of the similarity of itslife cycle to that ofcotton, it is a weed of cotton fields. It is also a potentialseed contaminant.
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