PlantFiles: Hindu Datura, Indian Apple, Jimson Weed, Sacred Datura, Thorn Apple
Datura inoxia

A very small Datura was given to me several years ago, and it has returned every summer since. It is extremely vigorous, and does try to be invasive ~ I sometimes find small Daturas in the middle of our lawn. We keep it confined to a small bed that is bordered by concrete, to keep it manageable, and in one spot. It comes up later in the summer, but grows quickly. It hasn't been a needy plant, and has been thriving in a dry, sunny position, in soil of low fertility. It blooms reliably and profusely in mid-to-late July, in the evenings. The flowers are very fragrant and last a very long time as cut flowers. I'm not sure how to seed this plant, and leave it to self-seed on its own each year. I wear gloves when I prune it, as I would sometimes experience some numbness of my hands after working on it. The gloves have protected me from this. This is an unusual plant, and can be quite novel to own. Just be careful of the toxicity and invasiveness.

Datura innoxia- I love plants like this.
The first time I grew this the scent nearly knocked me over. I noted that the flower opens like clockwork at about 7:30 PM and you can actually see it opening as you watch!
I think this plant is worth a try. Note it will drop its buds if moisture levels are low. Otherwise it is a robust easy to grow plant .

My daturas have finally germinated---they did take some time, but a little patience and gentle watering helped. I'm most excited to have these along with my brugmansias---devil and angel trumpets. As for all the negatives, remember this: there are no bad plants. There are only stupid people. I'm growing these in containers---my entire garden is a 2nd story porch awash in tropicals. Will follow-up with more as they grow and bloom. These seeds were bought locally---Renee's Botanicals. I planted about 20 seeds and I have 3 sprouts so far.

I came across this beautiful plant while walking my dog, and was able to collect a seed pod. At first it was identified as a brug, but with help from all of you at dave's garden now know it is a datura. The seed pod has opened... I'm not sure if I should sow the seeds now-or wait til spring? I live in western Mi(zone 5?). I am a new gardener, so any advise would be appreciated. Am aware of the negatives, but am very positive I want this flower in my garden!

I cannot believe anyone would purposely grow this toxic and malicious noxious weed! I am looking out the window at my pony's pasture which is _full_ of the D___D things! Wish I knew a safe way for me and the ponies to get _rid_ of these stinking things!

We have about eight of these plants growing in a sunny area. They are striking in appearance, but invasive and very hard to get rid of. They definitely bloom at night, with the flowers withering and falling down the following day. Tonight we went out for dinner before evening twilight, and not a single flower was in bloom. We came back an hour later when it was fully dark, and there were about 20 large, newly blooming flowers! (NOTE: By 1:30 the next afternoon, every one of these flowers had wilted badly and was hanging down from the plant.) It is said that you can actually watch the blooms emerge in the evening, and I plan to try this soon.

I tried it, without success. I set up my camera and watched an incipient bloom for about two hours. Nothing moved. Sigh.

There is quite a bit on the Internet about the toxicity and hallucinogenic properties of Datura species (Google datura toxicity), and it is very serious stuff. Some of the stories are scary -- one British doctor had two plants in his greenhouse, and without knowingly even touching them, had serious visual disturbances that lasted several days (to see it, Google datura surgery pupil). Among other problems reported are temporary blindness lasting several days, and mental problems in separating fantasy from reality.

Who knows how and when these plants shed their seeds? Some of the pods turn brown, but that doesn't seem to mean they are about to burst. Green pods on the plants seem just to burst at random. Pods I've picked, even brown ones, don't seem to burst at all.

We grew several of these plants from seed last year. They were beautiful and smelled citrusy (to my nose) in the evening. They do tend to sprawl, so in the fall we had to dig them up as they were hanging over a walkway. We kept some of the seeds to try again next year and plant them in a more appropriate area. It was one of the few plants that the deer, groundhogs and rabbits didn't bother. When collecting the seeds from the pods, wait until they split open and wear gloves.

A lady in Destin Flordia gave me the seed from this plant and it has been just great. I live in Crossville, Tn and the plant come back each year fron the root and then also from seed that fall onto the ground. Has a wonderful smell I truly think this is a great flower.

I ate the seeds from this plant and didn't die. I enjoyed it. I took a bath and my skin was orange and talked to someone who wasn't there and things would disappear I couldn't communicate all that well. I did vomit which could be why I'm alive. Dangerous but I'll admit I enjoyed myself. My pupils were huge.

This plant is lovely and does very well in my neck of the woods. I had an invasion of whiteflies late summer, but they seemed to deter from this one. I love the fragrant and beautiful flowers. I didnt kjnow what it was for a long time. When I bought it the lady told me it was a moon vine. I knew it didnt look like any of the pix I had seen on here. I searched high and low and finally found it! I love my Sacred Datura!

Vetaflame, I guess you didn't read the entire thread before you posted. Your husband develops a rash from the alkaloid toxins present in all parts of the plant. Your husband could avoid the allergic response either by staying away from the plant, or by simply washing the skin that came into contact with the plant within 10 minutes after exposure. I would recommend transplanting it to an area where people won't brush up against it or have to handle it repeatedly. The plant is relatively harmless as long as you don't ingest it in any form. The lethal, toxic effect, that most of the people have described in earlier posts, occurs when a person is exposed to a lethal dose. The plant's chemicals responsible for the adverse effects on the human body vary greatly in concentration from flower to flower and leaf to leaf. This variability has lead to deaths and severe illness in 'trip-seekers.' There is no "safe" amount of plant matter that will induce pleasant hallucinations as many young, adventurous folk have found out the hard way. The plant is valued for both its appearance and fragrance and is relatively harmless as long as people understand both its positive and negative properties.

This plant popped up in a hot, rocky, sandy spot in my San Diego garden this spring. I've seen seedlings in my yard before but always pulled them out. This time, I let the seedling go to see what would develop. What a shock! Within a few weeks, I had a three-foot shrub with tons of gorgeous white flowers. I've tried to grow Brugmansia several times, with limited success, so I was very surprised to see this close relative sprout up all by itself and thrive with no help from me. One question, though: does anyone know how and when to transplant it? It is growing directly in front of my pool control valves, and my husband appears to be seriously allergic to it (he's not happy about the rash and itching and is threatening to destroy the plant if I don't move it).

I grew two daturas as annuals last summer in a southern exposure. One was in a container and did quite nicely, despite being severely infested with aphids. The other started out in a container and appeared to die back, so I transplanted it into the ground... then it took off like a rocket and grew to almost three feet tall. They both perished during the first hard frost in October, before their seed pods matured. Even though I didn't get any seed for the next year, they were lovely and undemanding.

To my surprise I found this plant growing in my back yard. I live in a remote area of South Dakota and had no idea what it was but I know it was from the nightshade family. I enjoy the beautifull smell and look of the flower. How it got here in South Dakota is a mistory but I have seen it other places here in SD now that I know what it is.

The plant is atleast 4ft tall and has bloomed over and over. I love it.

I had just posted this plant for identification so now I know what it is. There are so many different variety's of it but the leafs on some I have seen were different than mine, but this one is exactly the same.
I was given a few small plants from a friend and they grew so large so fast I have them planted all over especially around my pond.
But I have found several articles that they are very poisonous and kids were eating the plant to get high, but I just love to see them bloom in the evening and early morning. I did bring in a couple blooms and placed in water and they lasted a couple days.

Thanks for the Identification

Vickie

I had seeds given to me 2 years ago but never had the chance to plant them untill this past spring. I planted two 6 inch pots with 4 seeds each. All 8 seeds germinated within a week. I planted each pot about 2 feet apart in my sunny front yard flower garden.

These plants now cover a 6x6 foot area and are about 4 feet tall with no extra support. The large white upright blooms now mingle with my maroon zinnias and purple butterfly bush and they stay open untill about noon or later on cloudy days. Most nights I have 15 to 20 flowers open with the total for one night being 44. The plants are illuminated at night by a street llght.

I deadhead at least every 3rd day leaving only 2 seed pods to develope at a time, which I watch and harvest just as the pod begins to split. The pods are very spiny. Thats why this plant has the common name Thorn Apple. As others have noted these plants are toxic and can be invasive but they are beautiful flowers, very easy to grow and will do well in poor soil.

Living in extreme northern Georgia, this plant is nothing but a weed. A very pretty one but still a weed. Due to the cattle numbers, high number of children, and curious outdoor canines and felines this plant is usually removed as soon as it's found. I do however have one that I keep in a window in the "potting" room of my house. With the growlight and the outside natural light, it usually does ok. This room is however the hottest and sunniest room in my home so that could be the only reason it survives indoors. Blooms are very gorgeous but I have yet to smell it. Too many chemicals in the room with it I guess. No one here has been unlucky enough to try the seeds to get high but I do know that it happens across the country and did happen alot in the 60s and 70s. Don't try it....it can and will kill you.

I have no idea why I have become so fascinated by this plant. I suppose it could be that she has been growing around me all my life and I never realized how magical and powerful she is. I picked my first flower last night....never bloomed...I think I killed it. It DOES smell a lot like peanut butter. I saw purpleish veins running up through the base of the flower budd....very alien and exotic. It LOOKS very poisonous.
I have no interest in using this plant for mind altering purposes, yet the effects people describe are very interesting to me. Is is possible to become poisoned by handling this plant? How should I go about growing my own? I also noticed that she was significantly eaten by insects. Are pesticides recommended?

in interest to anyone's well-being you should not attempt to intoxicate yourself with this plant, but that doesn't mean coming out of it you'll regret it, you might the first couple days when you can't see anything, but that doesn't mean it's a bad or evil plant, in my opinion the reason datura has so many different names is based on people's experiances while ingesting the plant, but my objection is that you won't trip. you'll definetly trip whether you realize it or not and it can be either a highly mystical or horrific experiance, to get a better understanding of what the hallucenogenic journey is about think about your dreams fused with this layer of reality a very dangerous combination especially for someone who looks to the plant for recreational use, i've studied this plant and all of the nightshade family for about two years, and it is not something you should injest unless your ready to risk your life for this experiance.

in india,this plant,known as datura,has a lot of religious significance and is used in worship of lord shiva.it is known as a very poisonous plant from tip to root and hence termed as a weed.in india,it grows in any soil condition and has been observed to be very sturdy.though the local population keeps away from this plant knowing its poisonous tendency and keep their cattles ands goats away,yet it has also been observed that certain foreign nationals who come over to holiday and have history of indulging in drugs,when under financial crisis and unable to satisfy their craving,try this plant which also known as shiva's plant hoping to get a high or a trip from it.but sadly observed afterwards,it is very difficult for these people to ever become sane again.
i would like to warn hence anyone who want to give this plant or its flowers or seeds a try......PLEASE HAVE SOME PITY FOR YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET ANY TRIP FROM IT BUT WILL REGRET IT FOR ALL YOUR LIFE AND MAYBE EVEN IN WORSE CONDITION THAT YOU MAY NOT BE ALIVE TO REGRET IT.my intention is only that of goodwill towards anyone who even plays with the thought of this plant.this plant is not made for tripping my friends and i know it.i have seen too many cases to have been able to avoid putting my words here.please do not play with your life and MOST IMPORTANT....YOUR MIND.YOU WILL REGRET IT.

I have grown it as a hedge IN East Troy Wi. ( southern Wis.) zip 53120. It grew about 4 1/2 ft. tall and very dense, as I used generous amount of seeds. It will seed itself each year after it is once established in full sun. It stopped traffic along a busy Hwy. as the hedge went all across the front of a farm propert.
I also am growing it now in Windsor Va. where I now reside. IT also is planted as a hedge outlining the front yard but didnt grow as tall as it did in Wis. maybe 3 ft. high. BLooms late afternoon and all night till about 10 am . then flowers close or die and new ones will appear about 6 pm . You can almost watch as they open up in the evening. a Gorgeous flower about 7 in. long and resembles an Easter lily. Very fragrant.You will love the site of these beautiful flowers. ZIP here is 53487

The flowers are pretty but, to me, that's the only thing pretty about this plant. I'm in Howell, NJ (central) & it's nothing but a noxious, invasive weed here. I have horses so I don't want it in my paddocks & fields. They won't usually touch it but every once in awhile, one will decide to taste, then I have to worry about colic (potentially fatal in horses). I pull it every year (ew, what a nasty stink!) but it's impossible to get rid of. The pods produce too many seeds. I have very poor soil here, primarily sand, & they do VERY well in it.

Anyone who would like to, can come here & take as many they want. It amazes me that anyone would plant & grow them intentionally. But then, I'm sure I have plants someone else would consider weeds.

Every couple/few years, there's usually a couple of kids that end up in the hospital around here because they just HAD to try getting high on the seeds. Scary stuff.

I was given several small plants while I was establishing my garden in St. Petersburg, Florida, zone 9b. I put them in the front of my "tropical bed," with bananas, papayas, cannas, zebra plants, and gingers. In one summer my plants grew to about four or five feet tall, and I was very pleased with their beautiful white blooms out by the street.

One afternnon I was talking with my neighbor across the street who had a large "picture window" that looked out into my yard, and she commented how strange it was that some teenagers were always stopping and picking my beautiful white "trumpet flowers." I got pretty mad at the nerve of these kids, stealing my beautiful flowers, until my own teenaged son (at the time) told me that the kids were stealing the flowers hoping to "get high." Well, I dug up the plants and vowed to only plant them again in a more private place. But I've never grown them again as I now prefer the Brugmansias.

These plants really put on a show with huge trumpets that are a joy to behold. However, if the tap root is broken in the process of moving them from one location to another do not expect any blooms.
Otherwise they are easy to grow in almost any situation with very little care.

I recently found this growing outside a local elementary school. Keep your eyes open to this danger as children may ingest this highly poisonous plant.

Several years ago, area teens were eating these for the hallucinogenic effect. It's a poisonous plant - not a wise choice! Our local news did a story on its effects, showing police video footage of teens in lock-up freaking out. STUPID!

We just moved into a duplex back in May. We planted a few things in our garden but the soil was bad and it was too dry so nothing came up. I hadn't weeded or watered the garden in quite some time when I noticed something that I thought was a weed. I was going to pull it when one morning I discovered there was quite a few of them and they had gorgeous flowers on them. I had no clue what they were until now!

This is my first experience with this beautiful flower. My sister gave me a bunch of seeds from hers, I planted them in May and August they had blossoms. My sisters are white with a trim of purple mine were just plain white ones. I have tons of plants and they grow really well against my fence.

Datura metel (Jimpson Weed) drops seeds in the fall in my Zone 5 area and comes back every year; a white "Angel's Trumpet" does the same. We had a really hard winter last year but they both came back this spring better than ever. I saved some seed from both but the ones that came up on their own are much bigger than the ones I started from seed.

I have been growing this plant in Fort Worth, Texas (U.S.) for about 10-15 years. I got my start from my Mother, who lived in Irving, Texas.

I love the plant, it is very beautiful - smells a little like peanut butter. It is difficult to transplant and some insects like to eat the small seedlings right off at the ground. The plant is a biennial here, growing very fast and blooming quickly. The first winter freeze kills the plant to the ground, but it sprouts back from the roots the second year and it completely dies the second winter freeze, thus it is a biennial, dying every two years. I pinch off the faded blooms, a blooom only lasts one day, so that it will keep blooming and not go to seed right away. It reseeds itself, from the seeds dropping on the ground, but seeds will not sprout if the ground is mulched too heavily. I have plants on the southwest side of my house and also on the northeast side.

This plant is also called "Locoweed" and "Jimsonweed." It is the "Jimsonweed" mentioned in Gene Autrey's song "Back In The Saddle Again." My plants are in bloom during the day, so I assume they are the "Angel's Trumpet" version. I recommend this plant.

Editor's Note: "Angel's Trumpet" is most commonly used in conjunction with a related genus, Brugmansia sp.

My plant looks like this but I was told it was Datura Wrightii - also called JImson Weed. It's leaves do not meet equally on stem. Beuatiful and fragrant blooms at night about 4 inches across and 6 inches deep. Blooms wilt as soon as the sun hits them and then they smell like dirty sneakers. I have mine in as much shade as possible and they hold their bloom until about noon. Each branch splits to grow 2 more, each with a bloom spike. It can get very big, very fast. Mine dies to ground every winter but comes back every spring. Grows easily from seed, whether you want it to or not.

Actually got this plant from a cutting. I have kept the seeds in a bag over winter and planted in a pot and they have sprouted. I live in zone 8 and planted my first one in the ground. It died back in winter and has come back the past two years. BUT has not gotten a big as it did the first year. This is the first season I have started the seedlings early enough to see how big they get. People down here were actually trying to tell me they were brugmansia's---glad to see I was right-LOL!

Most common of the daturas and grows easily in the wild. I got started on daturas from small plants gathered growing near its parent shrub. Pure white during warm weather, spring through fall, takes on a faint purple edging in the cool early winter (in California). Prolific bloomer. Will sprawl if allowed, but cut back and keep compact and in check.

Can be invasive...I think i have given seeds and seedlings to everyone I know including all the nurseries in Dubai! The flowers open at night and are eye-catching as well as very fragrant. They require alot of water. During the summer months I have to water 2-3 times a day. WE do have extreme temperatures here in Dubai United Arab Emirates however. It is a very easy plant to grow otherwise!

This is one of my favorite Sonoran Desert plants. It is native to zone 8 in southern Arizona, where it dies back every winter and does not return until the following summer rain season. I have never seen the purple flowering form in the wild, so I assume that it is a cultivated form.

Nice white flowered Datura species. Flowers are fairly big and have a strong, good scent. Easy to grow from seeds.

I received the spiney seed ball from my grandmother in late Fall, threw it in with my gardening equipment in my shed and thought nothing of it until Spring. I originally planted many seeds in a container, then transplanted 6-6" plants into beds. This is their 3rd season coming up as perennials. The root system is very large. I have had trouble extracting it all one year when I decided to move it to a larger area. It does tend to take over in confined spaces, so give it lots of room to spread. I cut them down in late fall after the first heavy frost. I get such enjoyment from the plethera of blooms. I actually average 10-12 blooms an evening. The white blossoms glisten in the moonlight. If you are planting them, place them somewhere where they can be enjoyed each evening then sit back a watch them open before your very eyes.

This is a beautiful plant when it finally blooms. The blooms come late in the evening (7:00 pm) and stay until about 11:00 am the next morning. Usually 2-3 blooms per day per plant. I actually stood and watched them open. It was spectacular. Any flower loving person should grow a moon vine. It is well worth your time and trouble. The blooming process will last for a couple of weeks.

I have a vibrant, healthy specimen of this plant in my backyard that I started from seeds, but I'm considering removing it because I recently discovered that it is highly toxic and I have 3 dogs! Here in zone 11 this plant (Sacred Datura, Jimson Weed, Jamestown Weed, Loco Weed, Thornapple, Datura Metaloides, etc...) blooms just about year round - but the flowers open only at night during the summer months and only during the day time during the winter months. It attracts many moths and june bugs. It is a delight to watch the june bugs rolling around inside the blooms. My specimen has at times grown as large as about 6 feet high and about 5 feet in diameter - I have to cut it back often to keep it from taking over!

Here in Portland Oregon, much grows! I have two plant growing right now. One is in a sunny part of our garden and one is in a 12" pot on the back deck.

There is an obvious size difference in the two; by about 50% right now. The flowers are just beginning to open but we have not had the opportunity to witness the opening nor the fragrance.

I am rather impressed with the now 3' tall plant that has at least 6 buds just about ready to open.

Now that the nights here are quite warm, we can easily discern the daily growth of both plants. We are looking forward to figuring just how to take care of them.

The White Angel's Trumpet here in Zone 6b northern New Jersey has acted as a perennial for the past 3 years. The seed that I had harvested from plants in Brooklyn New York were kept in a refrigerater over a winter, planted in the spring and did not germinate until the following year! I thought I had lost them. They have since come up from the rootstock reliably for 2 years since the initial germination. Bloom starts the last week of July and continues until cut down by frost. Seeds harvested have sprouted reliably when planted directly into the garden,with out the same long germination period. They sprout when the soil warms, growth is slow until the nights are warm. One plant with 2 or three flowers will perfume a garden in the evening. I have planted mine on the north east side of the house, they only receive direct sun from 1 hour after sunrise until about 9:00 am. This year I planted them in tubs and large pots although the plants are smaller than those in the ground they are setting buds. The flowers open in the early evening, if you are there at the right time you can watch them unspiral and pop open before your eyes, they start to release the heavenly sent right before they open.

This plant has 3 to 4-inch long trumpet-shaped, upwardly-raised flowers, most usually white but occassionally yellow or purple. The height is variable, as it tends to bend under its own weight, but if staked can reach five to six feet in a season. It may be also sold under the name D. meteloides or D. wrightii, and there are double varieties available. There are several species of datura, and some recent hybrids. These are often confused with Brugmansia, which is also commonly called 'Angel's Trumpet', and with better cause. Datura has also been called 'Devil"s Trumpet' since the flowers face upward toward Heaven, rather than downward from Heaven. The white-flowered variety has been reliably root-hardy for me in Zone 7.ALL PARTS ARE TOXIC.