Jimsonweed - Datura stramonium

Family: Solanaceae (Potato family) ^[E-flora]

• Synonyms
• Datura inermis Juss. ex Jacq ^[PFAF]
• Datura pseudostramonium Sieb. Bernh. ^[PFAF]
• Datura stramonium var. tatula (L.) Torr. ^[E-flora]
• Datura tatula L. ^[E-flora]

"Datura stramonium is a ANNUAL growing to 1.5 m (5ft) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a medium rate.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 7 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from Jul to October, and the seeds ripen from Aug to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Moths.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil." ^[PFAF] [PFAF]

Origin Status: Exotic ^[E-flora]

General: Annual herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, solitary, branched, smooth, 50-150 cm tall. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
Leaves: Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves egg-shaped, irregularly toothed or angled, shallowly lobed, 5-20 cm long, 4-15 cm wide. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
Flowers: Inflorescence of terminal, single flowers; corollas white, tubular, the tubes 6-10 cm long, the limbs 3-5 cm tall, shallowly lobed with projecting teeth up to 1 cm long; calyces 3.5-5 cm long, shortly 5-lobed. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
Fruits: Capsules, dry, dehiscent egg-shaped, 3-5 cm long, densely prickly; seeds poisonous. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Habitat/Range: Mesic to dry waste places in the lowland and steppe zones; rare in S BC; introduced from Mexico. ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
D. stramonium is found throughout the eastern United States, frequently in fields and along roadsides. ^[Nyerges]

Hazards

• Toxic
• "All members of this genus contain narcotics and are very poisonous, even in small doses[200]." ^[PFAF]
• Poisonous! Lest you be tempted to casually experiment with this mind-altering plant containing solanaceous alkaloids, be warned that its effects when taken internally include dry mouth, thirst, nausea, vomiting, incoherence, delirium, convulsions, coma, and sometimes death (though death is rare). The seeds are the most potent. ^[Nyerges]
• " In one case recorded in the medical books a man made a decoction from two of the capsules, soaking them in milk, and on dosing himself suffered from paralysis of the whole body, and became delirious. After some hours he fell into a sound sleep, and presently recovered his senses and retained his life." ^{[WFCS Hume]}
• Contraindications, Interactions, and Side Effects (Jimsonweed) — Not covered (AHP). Do not take it (JAD). Commission E reports leaf and seed not permitted for oral use. Contains toxic belladonna alkaloids (AEH). Contraindicated in acute pulmonary edema, glaucoma, paralytic ileus, prostatosis, pyloric stenosis, and tachycardic arrhythmia (PHR). High doses lead to central excitation, compulsive chatter, delirium, hallucination, mania, and restlessness, often followed by exhaustion and lethargy, and/or sleep (CRC; PH2).^{[HMH Duke]} " Patients with urine retention or coronoary sclerosis should not use Jimson Weed. Drug Interactions: Jimson Weed will have an additive effect when taken with other anticholinergic medications." ^[PDR]
• "Lethal dosages (for adults starting at 100 mg atropine, depending upon atropine content, 15 to 100 g of the leaf drug, 15 to 25 g of the seed drug, considerably less for children) carry with them the danger of asphyxiation."^[PDR]
• Alkaloid Variability: "The drug contains alkaloids (hyoscyamine, scopolamine) in extremely varying concentrations.... Due to the inconsistent alkaloid content of the raw herb, the authors do not recommend use of non-standardized Jimson Weed products." ^[PDR]

Other Uses

• Companion Plant: "The growing plant is said to protect neighbouring plants from insects[18, 20]." ^[PFAF]
• Hair: "The juice of the fruits is applied to the scalp to cure dandruff and falling hair[243]." ^[PFAF]

Medicinal Uses

"The thornapple is a bitter narcotic plant that relieves pain and encourages healing[238]. It has a long history of use as a herbal medicine, though it is very poisonous and should be used with extreme caution. The leaves, flowering tops and seeds are anodyne, antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, hallucinogenic, hypnotic, mydriatic and narcotic[1, 4, 7, 9, 13, 21, 46, 165, 238, 240]." ^[PFAF]

• Seeds: "The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine, they are said to have a bitter and acrid taste with a cooling and very poisonous potency[241]. Analgesic, anthelmintic and anti-inflammatory, they are used in the treatment of stomach and intestinal pain due to worm infestation, toothache and fever from inflammations [241]." ^[PFAF] "The seeds are the most active medicinally[4]." ^[PFAF]
• Dosages: "Daily Dosage: Seeds: single oral dose: 0.05 gm; daily dose: 0.6 gm drug (EB6); seed tincture: single oral dose: 0.3 gm; daily dose: 3.0 gm (EB6)." ^[PDR]
• Homeopathic Dosage: "from D4: 5 to 1 0 drops, 1 tablet or 5 to 1 0 globules 1 to 3 times a day or 1 ml injection solution sc twice weekly; eye drops 1 to 3 times a day (HAB1)." ^[PDR]
• Storage: "Keep carefully stored and protected from light." ^[PDR]
• Leaves: The leaves should be harvested when the plant is in full flower, they are then dried for later use[4]. The leaves can be used as a very powerful mind-altering drug, they contain hyoscyamine and atropine[213]. There are also traces of scopolamine, a potent cholinergic-blocking hallucinogen, which has been used to calm schizoid patients[213]. Atropine dilates the pupils and is used in eye surgery[222]. The leaves have been smoked as an antispasmodic in the treatment for asthma, though this practice is extremely dangerous[213, 222].^[PFAF]
• Smoke: Although the plant is classified as poisonous, it does have claimed medicinal value. The dried leaves, sometimes mixed with dried mullein leaves, are smoked in cigarettes or in pipes to give some relief to asthma sufferers. ^[Nyerges] "...in the hands of the physicians it has its uses, one of the best known of these being the employment of its dried leaves for the relief of asthma. A prescription that has been well commended for the relief of this distressing ailment is a mixture in equal parts of powdered lobelia, stramonium leaves, nitrate of potash, and black tea. This being well mixed and sifted must be placed in a saucer and ignited, the invalid inhaling the resulting smoke."^{[WFCS Hume]} "Because of its antispasmodic influence upon spasmodic asthma, it has come into general use as an agent in that disease, used principally as an inhalant. The dried leaves are burned and the fumes are inhaled and relief is immediate. The dried root in coarse powder as well as the powdered leaves may be smoked in a common tobacco pipe." ^[Ellingwood]
• "Most poisonings occur, however, in teenagers who explore the mind altering properties of the smoke. Symptoms of poisoning include mydriasis, cyclopegia, dry skin, dry mouth, urinary retention, tachycardia, delirium, and respiratory arrest (Winchester 1990). The onset of these symptoms usually occurs within 30 to 60 minutes of smoking the plants (Gilman 1990). Effects can last from 24 to 48 hours but have been known to persist for up to 2 weeks (Gilman 1990). The lethal nature of these compounds has thus resulted in worldwide smoking bans for jimsonweed and related species and is thus not recommended here."^[UAPDS]
• Dosages: "Daily Dosage: Stabilized leaf powder: 0.05 to 0.1 gm drug as a single dose up to 3 times a day; daily dose: 0.6 gm drug (OAB90); as a narcotic: 1 gm drug." ^[PDR]
• Homeopathic Dosage:" from D4: 5 to 10 drops, 1 tablet or 5 to 10 globules 1 to 3 times a day or 1 ml injection solution sc twice weekly; eye drops 1 to 3 times a day (HAB1)." ^[PDR]
• Storage: "Keep carefully stored and protected from light." ^[PDR]
• Plant: The plant is used internally in the treatment of asthma and Parkinson's disease, excess causes giddiness, dry mouth, hallucinations and coma[238]. Externally, it is used as a poultice or wash in the treatment of fistulas, abscesses wounds and severe neuralgia[238, 257]. The use of this plant is subject to legal restrictions in some countries[238]. It should be used with extreme caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner since all parts of the plant are very poisonous and the difference between a medicinal dose and a toxic dose is very small[21, 213, 238].^[PFAF]
• Dosages: "50–100 mg powdered leaf 1–3 ×/day (PH2); 50 mg seed (PH2). Indians apply warmed leaves to the breast to reduce lactation and firm the breast (ZUL)." ^{[HMH Duke]}
• Topical Use:
• Juice:The juice of the fruit is applied to the scalp to treat dandruff[243].^[PFAF]
• Snakebite: Used externally, the crushed root and leaves were regarded by some Native Americans as an effective rattlesnake-bite cure when applied to the bite. ^[Nyerges]
• Ointment: "Gerard talks about the “juice of Thorn-apples boiled with hogs grease to the form of an unguent or salve”, to cure “all inflammations whatsoever, all manner of burning or scalding … as my selfe have found by my daily practice, to my great credit and profit”. That was in use in East Anglia until very recently. The green fruit was boiled in pork fat to make an ointment for inflammations, burns and scalds (V G Hatfield. 1994). Alabama women treated bruised or caked breasts by boiling jimsonweed with lard, about half as much weed as lard, and rubbing on the result as hot as possible (R B Browne). In fact, the treatment was quite well known, for King’s American Dispensatory of 1852 mentions that a poultice of the fresh leaves bruised, or the dried leaves in hot water, is beneficial as a local medication to “all species of haemorrhoidal tumours” (Lloyd)." ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Veterinary Use: "That ointment was used in veterinary medicine, too. In Ohio and Illinois it is rubbed on the fetlocks of horses for “scratches” (Bergen. 1899). Pieces of thorn-apple, rubbed or bound on the sores, used to be an English cure for galled horses, particularly in Littleport, Cambridgeshire (Porter. 1969)" ^{[DPL Watts]}
• Homeopathic Uses: "Used for infection with high temperatures, cramps and inflammations of the eyes." ^[PDR]
• Analgesic: The plant has a history of being used as a pain reliever (the crushed leaves and sterns may be packed against the gums for toothache, being careful not to swallow the saliva or any plant parts). ^[Nyerges] "Thorn-apple has always been valued for medicinal as well as narcotic purposes. The active principle seems to be identical with atropine, and has been used commercially as a substitute for it (Lloyd). It has long been valued as a pain-reliever in American domestic medicine, in the form of a poultice or ointment made from the pulp of the bruised green leaves, and it was used for the same purpose in Essex at one time. The method there was to cut the top of the fruit off, and pulp the inside, adding vinegar. Inhalation of the fumes brought relief, so they claimed (V G Hatfield. 1994)." ^{[DPL Watts]}
• "Old Chinese herbal medicine texts state that if equal amounts of Jimson weed and Cannabis sativa are gathered in the seventh and eighth moon, dried in the shade, pulverized, and taken in wine, the preparation ingested would produce a narcotic anesthesia so effective that operations and cauterizations could be performed with little or no pain." ^[TMRU]

Lore & History

The name Jimsonweed is a corruption of the word Jamestown, after Jamestown, Virginia. It was there, in 1676, that soldiers confused D. stramonium for a potherb (they probably thought it was a chenopodium or an atriplex) and ate it, afterwards experiencing visions and hallucinations. The plant was then referred to as Jamestown weed and has steadily evolved to its present form. ^[Nyerges]

"In that quaint old work, ''History and Present State of Virginia'' (1705), by Robert Beverly, the author gives a curious account of what happened to some soldiers who made a boiled dish of the early shoots of the plant, supposing them to be edible potherbs. ''Some of them eat plentifully of it,'' writes Master Beverly, ''the Effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turn'd natural Fools upon it for several Days: One would blow up a Feather in the Air; another would dart Straws at it with much Fury; another, stark naked, was sitting in a Corner, like a Monkey, grinning and making mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss and paw his Companions and snear in their Faces with a Countenance more antick than any Dutch Droll. ... A thousand such simple Tricks they play'd, and after Eleven Days, return 'd to themselves again, not remembering anything that had pass'd.''" ^[Saunders]

The most widespread use of the plant has been as a drink made from the roots and seeds, used as a ceremony for Native American boys' puberty rites. Native American shamans are also said to have used this plant to induce a state of mind where they could see future events and learn some of nature's secrets. The Native American ceremonial uses of this plant are described in detail in The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. There is a saying: "The stems and leaves are used for medicine, the roots and seeds for divination, but the flowers will drive you mad." The root often has the appearance of a human body, somewhat akin to the appearance of a ginseng root, though the jimson root is much larger. This is one of the plants witches are said to have made into an ointment, which they rubbed all over their bodies in order to fly. ^[Nyerges]

• "The Algonquians of eastern North America would make a drink containing Jimson weed, wysoccan, for young boys to take when initiated into manhood. A type of violent madness would occur for about twenty days with a total loss of memory of their former life. When the boy regained consciousness, he would start adulthood forgetting that he was ever a child." ^[TMRU] "While the drug is used for the memory loss effect, men commonly experience many of the other side effects due to the power of the drug. Often after the 20 days most men can't even show their power and strength they have earned because they can not walk or speak. If after the 20 days is over a boy can still remember his childhood, he must go back for another round of the drug to be able to fully become a man. If he has any knowledge of what has happened previously in life he can not full commit to being a man." ^[COAA]
• "In 1658, Porta wrote in his book Natural Magick that a potion containing henbane, mandrake, stromonium, and belladonna was drunk to make a man act like a beast—probably one of the origins of lycanthropy. A traditional technique for witch's flying ointment was to take the fat of an animal or even a child and simmer it in the fresh juice of stromonium, water parsnip, aconite, Cinquefoil, and deadly nightshade. Soot was added to blacken the mixture and then the ointment was rubbed over the entire body. A broom was sometimes used to put more of the ointment up into the vagina—by this time the witch was really hallucinating and experienced "flying on her broomstick to the sabbath." This is a classic example of astral projection."^[TMRU]
• "To control the experience of astral projection, the recommended procedure is to fast the day before the experiment (abstaining from drugs also). In the afternoon secure your room from sound and other possible distractions: telephone, visitors, etc. Smoke two large joints of datura, about 1 gram each. Then lie back and allow the effects to occur. To get a better idea of the expected effects and what you might do with this experience, I recommend the book Journeys Out of the Body by Robert Monroe.
  Note of Caution: Datura can be detrimental to the heart because of the tropanes. A tolerance is built up to the tropanes in the parasympathetic system, thus requiring more datura to achieve the same effects. This is not true with their effects on the heart and severe damage may occur. This is why this and related tropanes should never be ingested. They are extremely toxic."^[TMRU]
• "Do Not Ingest! The leaves are smoked (Don Juan's "little smoke"). Cannabis sativa may be added. The dose should be less than 2 grams per session, taken less than once per week." ^[TMRU]

Gender: Feminine
Planet: Saturn
Element: Water
Powers: Hex-Breaking, Sleep, Protection
Ritual Uses: Datura has been used in shamanic practices and religious rites for untold centuries. The Aztecs considered the plant to be sacred.
Magical Uses: Datura is used to break spells by sprinkling it around the home. It also protects against evil spirits. If insomnia persists night after night, it may be cured by placing some datura leaves into each shoe and then setting the shoes under the bed with the toes pointing toward the nearest wall. A few datura leaves placed on the crown of a hat protects the wearer from apoplexy as well as sunstroke.^{[EMH Cunningham]}

THORN-APPLE (Datura stramonium, or virtually any of the genus) seeds, in both the old and new worlds, were administered in various ways as love potions (Safford), and the roots were used, too, according to Haining; he says they were burned at the Sabbats in order to excite (and also to overcome) women for sexual motives. Similarly, a 17th century medical report claims that the seeds given to anyone will cause that victim to be at the complete mercy of the practitioner for 24 hours, “and you can do what you like with him; he notices nothing, understands nothing”, and will remember nothing (Haining). That sounds very like Voodoo magic, and what was certainly Voodoo practice was to pound the seeds up with the dried head of a snake. The mixture was used “to produce a mysterious and baffling blindness” (Puckett. 1926). ^{[DPL Watts]} "In India, women known as "mundane ladies" (prostitutes) would use "knockout drops" (D. metel) for intoxicating, then robbing, their clients." ^[TMRU]

Pharmacology

"Jimsonweed Case series indicate that agitation, confusion, hallucinations, and combative behavior are common clinical manifestations of jimsonweed poisoning in patients presenting to emergency departments for treatment, particularly in adolescents who drank tea brewed from these plants.53,54 In a review of case studies of jimsonweed intoxication from the smoking of D. stramonium cigarettes, dryness of the mouth and pupillary dilation were the earliest signs of intoxication.32 Other clinical signs of toxicity in these cases included hallucinations (83%), disorientation (54%), dilated pupils (54%), dry mucous membranes (46%), fever (31%), ataxia (26%), rapid pulse (20%), amnesia (19%), and fl ushing (19%). Hallucinations usually involve simple images in natural colors, in contrast with the brilliant visual displays seen with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The presence of bowel sounds and diaphoresis suggests an adrenergic (cocaine, amphetamine) excess rather than an anticholinergic (jimsonweed) poisoning. Tactile hallucinations are uncommon. Amnesia may last up to 24 hours during anticholinergic intoxication.55 Seizures occur rarely during jimsonweed intoxication,31,56,57 but patients may present in coma, particularly following the ingestion of teas.58 Fatalities usually result from trauma or drowning rather than medical complications (respiratory failure, arrhythmias).32,49,59 Symptoms typically resolve in 24 to 48 hours, although pupillary dilation may continue up to 1 week.60,61" ^[TNS]

"Proliferation of jimsonweed in cornfields has led to an occupational disease known as cornpicker ’ s pupil in which the pulverized jimsonweed dust caused mydriasis for several days after mechanical harvesting.62,63 Asymmetrical anisocoria can occur in patients following ocular contact with parts of Datura species, and this effect usually resolves within 3 days.64" ^[TNS]

The concentration of hyoscyamine in the seeds of Datura stramonium can reach concentrations of 0.2 - 0.6% [2]. The tropane alkaloids are acetylcholine antagonists acting at the muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the autonomic nervous system, central nervous system, heart, and digestive systems. Most cases of poisoning are reported in humans who deliberately consume the seeds or make tea from the leaves to experience the hallucinogenic properties of the tropane alkaloids [3,4]. Although the alkaloids are hallucinogenic, the profound effects of the alkaloids on the nervous system can and do cause fatalities.^[DP2]

Analgesic (1; CRC; JFM; ZUL); Anesthetic (1; CRC; VAG); Antiasthmatic (f; CRC); Anticholinergic (1; CRC; PH2; ZUL); Anticholinesterase (1; WBB); Antihistaminic (1; ZUL); Antiinflammatory (1; ZUL); Antiparkinsonian (f; CRC); Antiseptic (1; ZUL); Antisialagogue (1; CRC; TRA; VAG); Antispasmodic (1; JFM; TRA; ZUL); Aphrodisiac (f; VAG);Bronchoconstrictor (1; TRA); CNS-Sedative (1; TRA; VAG); CNS-Stimulant (1; TRA; VAG); Fungicide (1; ZUL); Hallucinogen (1; JFM; PH2; VAG); Hypnotic (f; HHB; ZUL); Lactifuge (f; ZUL); Mydriatic (f; CRC); Narcotic (1; CRC; ZUL); Nervine (f; HHB); Parasympatholytic (1; PH2; TRA); Poison (1; CRC); Sedative (1; ZUL).^{[HMH Duke]}

• Seeds:
• The 50-100 brown-black seeds in the fruit pods each contain 0.05-0.1 mg of atropine.^[PTH]
• Usually occur within 1 hour and may last for 2 days: Auditory hallucinations, decreased bowel sounds, delirium, disorientation, dizziness, hypertension, mydriasis, nausea, pruritus, seizures, tachycardia, urinary retention, visual hallucinations, vomiting. Hallucinations usually resolve within 18 hours. Mydriasis can persist for several days.^[PTH]
• 50-100 seeds may cause severe intoxication and hallucinations. Note: Seeds are often ingested for their deliriant effect.^[PTH]
• "The seeds, it will be seen, are very numerous, and, if gathered ,in their ripe state, germinate very freely in one's garden. They are the most powerfully deleterious part of a very dangerous plant, though those who are so foolish as to eat the seeds or boil the leaves for dinner should scarcely throw all the blame on the thorn apple. A case is on record of a child who eat some of these seeds and subseq uently became blind and mad, snapping at those about her and shrieking terribly." ^{[WFCS Hume]}

Decontamination: "Due to decreased GI motility, lavage may be useful unless the patient is symptomatic with anticholinergic toxidrome Supportive therapy: Physostigmine may be useful to treat life-threatening anticholinergic symptoms; physostigmine should not be used in this ingestion if tricyclic antidepressants are a suspected coingestant due to the potential for seizures; propranolol can be used to help in treating cardiovascular complications; benzodiazepines should be used for treatment of agitation." ^[PTH]

Phytochemicals

The Datura stramonium leaf usually contains 0.2–0.45% of alkaloids, principally (-)-hyosycamine and (-)-hyoscine in a ratio of about 2:1.^[HPEP]

Low amounts of calystegines were detected in Datura stramonium (Iimson-weed) but none in Nicotiana species. ^{[AlkaloidsChemical&BiologicalPerspectives V.11]}

COMPOUNDS: JIMSON WEED LEAF

Tropane alkaloids (0.1-0.65%): chief alkaloids (-)-hyoscyamine, under drying conditions changing over to some extent into atropine and scopolamine (ratio 4:1), furthermore including, among others, apoatropine, belladonnine, tigloylmeteloidin
Flavonoids
Hydroxycoumarins: including, among others, umbelliferone, scopolin, scopoletin
Withanolide: including, among others, withastramonolide ^[PDR]

Tropane alkaloids (0.4-0.6%): chief alkaloids (-)-hyoscyamine, under drying conditions changing over to some extent into atropine, and scopolamine (ratio 4:1).
Indole alkaloids ($-carboline type): including, among others, fluorodaturin (very fluorescent).
Lectins
Fatty oil (15-45%) ^[PDR]
Proteins (12-25%) ^[PDR]

Propagation

Sow the seed in individual pots in early spring in a greenhouse[200]. Put 3 or 4 seeds in each pot and thin if necessary to the best plant. The seed usually germinates in 3 - 6 weeks at 15^oc. Plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Especially in areas with hot summers, it is worthwhile trying a sowing outdoors in situ in mid to late spring.^[PFAF]

Cultivation

Succeeds in most moderately good soils but prefers a rich light sandy soil or a calcareous loam, and an open sunny position[1, 4, 200]. Plants often self-sow when well sited[1]. The thornapple is cultivated commercially as a medicinal plant[57]. It can become a weed in suitable conditions and is subject to statutory control in some countries[238]. This species is extremely susceptible to the various viruses that afflict the potato family (Solanaceae), it can act as a centre of infection so should not be grown near potatoes or tomatoes[200]. Grows well with pumpkins[20]. The whole plant gives off a nauseating stench[245]. ^[PFAF] "They are easily grown from seeds, which sprout quickly even without bottom heat. Does well in rich soil in a dry, sunny location. May be sown in the open in May in mounds 18 inches apart with four seeds in each mound. Thin out all but the healthiest plant after sprouting." ^{[GrowingTheHallucinogens]}

Growing Cycle: The plant has a rather large forking taproot, about the size of a slender carrot and reaching about two feet into the ground. The persistent root produces new foliage each spring; thus it is a perennial. During the winter, you'll see the dried staiks with the seed capsules still clinging. ^[Nyerges]

Remediation:" That widespread poisonous plant, jimsonweed, may become the darling of the 90's, due to its ability to separate plutonium from radioactive sludge. According to the June 18, 1992 edition of The Wall Strcet Journal, jimsonweed removes plutonium, cadmium, boron and copper from the watcr it ingcsts. It then uses proteins to bind the chemicals into its own cell walls, neutralizing their danger. This ability to separate radioactive poisons from water makes jimsonweed a far more sophisticated chemical plant (pun intended) than any now in existence. You see, there are more than 14 million 55-gallon drums of radioactive sludge in storage. Dangerous chemicals comprise a very small amount of the total volume, sometimes as little as a thimbleful per barrel. However, until Paul Jackson, a biochemist at the Deparunent of Energy's laboratory in Los Alamos, NM. discovered jimsonweed's unique abilities, there was no cost-efficient way to separate these poisons from the sludge. The Deparunent of Energy now pays $400 per cubic fOOllO simply store the sluff. Interestingly, the plant's cells can collecl plutonium whether dead or alive. Dr. Jackson embeds the powdered, dried plants into an effective filler for nuclear slurry. He has also found a way to grow jimsonweed cells in vitro in his laboratory (it looks as if there won't be a market for wildcrafters). Of course, once the plant separates water from waste, it, too, becomes mdioactive and must be stored safely. However, current estimates are that jimsonweed will reduce the need for storage space to one ten-thousandth of what it is now." ^{[WFF V.3N.5]}

DATURA JIMSON WEED

Annual to subshrub, hairs ± 0 or simple, ill-smelling. Leaf: entire to deeply lobed. Inflorescence: flowers 1 in branch forks. Flower: calyx circumscissile near base, leaving ± rotate collar in fruit; corolla funnel-shaped, white or ± purple, lobes 5(10); stamens attached below tube middle; ovary 2- or 4-chambered. Fruit: capsule, leathery or woody, prickly; valves 2–4 or irregular. Seed: ± flat, black, brown, gray-brown, or tan.
± 13 species: warm regions, especially Mexico; several ornamental, some source of drugs. (Hindu: ancient name) All species. TOXIC. ^[Jepson2012]

Local Species;

1. Datura stramonium - jimsonweed ^[E-flora]

References

1. [COAA]https://prezi.com/mmkgj9rdqp73/coming-of-age-algonquin-tribe/, Accessed Feb 1, 2015
2. [DukePhyt]http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=356, Accessed Feb 1, 2015
3. E-flora]http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Datura%20stramonium, Accessed Feb 1, 2015
4. [Jepson2012] Michael H. Nee, 2012. Datura ferox, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=22381, accessed on Oct 14 2013
5. [PFAF]http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Datura+stramonium, Accessed Feb 1, 2015