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Common Name: Downy Thorn Apple

General Information

Datura inoxia is an annual plant that can grow up to 1.00 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine

Known Hazards

All members of this genus contain narcotics and are very poisonous, even in small doses[].

Botanical References

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Range

South-western N. America.

Habitat

Sandy or gravelly dry open places below 1200 metres in California[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a rich light sandy soil[] and an open sunny position[]. It is best grown in a fertile calcareous soil[].
Plants are not very cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c[]. Plants can be grown outdoors as half-hardy annuals, starting the seed off in a greenhouse.
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[].
This species is a commercial source of the alkaloid scopolamine, used in the pharmaceutical industry[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - ground up and mixed with clay[] ( the clay probably has a neutralizing effect on the toxins). A very toxic plant, its use as a food cannot be recommended[]. The fruit is up to 5cm long and 7cm wide[].
A stupefying beverage is made from the leaves and roots[].

Medicinal

All parts of the plant are anodyne, antispasmodic, hallucinogenic, hypnotic and narcotic[, ]. It has been used in the past as a pain killer and also in the treatment of insanity, fevers with catarrh, diarrhoea and skin diseases[]. The plant contains several alkaloids, the most active of which is scopolamine[]. This is a potent cholinergic-blocking hallucinogen, which has been used to calm schizoid patients[]. The leaves contain 0.52% scopolamine, the calices 1.08%, the stems 0.3%, the roots 0.39%, the fruits 0.77%, the capsules 0.33%, the seeds 0.44% and the whole plant 0.52 - 0.62%[]. Any use of this plant should be with extreme caution and under the supervision of a qualified practitioner since the toxic dose is very close to the medicinal dose.

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Sow the seed in individual pots in early spring in a greenhouse[]. 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°c. 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.