Datura+innoxia

Datura

According to Wikipedia

//**Datura inoxia**// (**thorn-apple**, **downy thorn-apple**, **Indian-apple**, **[|moonflower]**, **sacred datura**, **toloatzin**, or **toloache**) is a species in the family [|Solanaceae]. It is native to [|Central] and [|South America], and [|introduced] in [|Africa], [|Asia], [|Australia] and [|Europe]. The scientific name is often cited as //D. innoxia//. The plant was first described in 1768 by English botanist [|Philip Miller]. The name //Datura metalloides// was for some time erroneously applied to some members of the species, but that name has now been abandoned.[|[1]] 

Description
//D. inoxia// with ripe, split-open fruit //Datura inoxia// is an [|annual] [|shrubby] plant that typically reaches a height of 0.6 to 1.5 metres. Its [|stems] and [|leaves] are covered with short and soft [|grayish] hairs, giving the whole plant a grayish appearance. It has [|elliptic] [|entire-edged] leaves with [|pinnate venation].[|[1]] 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. [//[|citation needed]//] The flowers are [|white], [|trumpet]-shaped, 12–19 cm long. They first grow upright, and later incline downward. It flowers from early summer until late fall. The fruit is an [|egg-shaped] spiny [|capsule], about 5 cm in diameter. It splits open when ripe, dispersing the seeds. Another means of [|dispersal] is by the fruit spines getting caught in the [|fur] of animals, who then carry the fruit far from the mother plant. The seeds have [|hibernation] capabilities, and can last for years in the soil. The seeds, as well as the entirety of this plant, are also [|hallucinogenic], but have a high probability of [|overdose]. 

Warning
All parts of //Datura// plants contain dangerous levels of poison and may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals, including livestock and pets. Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of //Datura// plants.[|[1]] 

Cultivation and Uses
When [|cultivated], the plant is usually grown from seed, but its [|perennial] [|rhizomes] can be kept from freezing and planted in the spring of the following year.[|[1]] //Datura inoxia//, like other //Datura// species, contains the highly toxic [|alkaloids] [|atropine], [|hyoscine] (scopolamine), and [|hyoscyamine]. According to [|Hernández], the Aztecs called the plant //toloatzin//, and used it long before the [|Spanish conquest of Mexico] for many therapeutic purposes, such as [|poultices] for wounds where it acts as an [|anodyne]. Although the Aztecs warned against madness and "various and vain imaginings", many native Americans have used the plant as an [|entheogen] for hallucinations and rites of passage. The alkaloids of these plants are very similar to those of [|mandrake], [|deadly nightshade], and [|henbane], which are also highly poisonous plants used cautiously for effective pain relief in antiquity.[|[2]] 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 make //Datura// 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.[|[1]] Such knowledge is not available in modern cultures, so many unfortunate incidents result from ingesting //Datura//. 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//.[|[3]] It has also been planted throughout the world as an [|ornamental plant] for its attractive large leaves, large white flowers, and distinctive thorny fruit. However, the plant is now considered an [|invasive species] in several locations. For example, because of the similarity of its [|life cycle] to that of [|cotton], it is a pest in cotton fields. It is also a potential [|seed contaminant]. 

Similar species
//Datura inoxia// is quite similar to //[|Datura metel]//, to the point of being confused with it in early scientific literature. //D. metel// is a closely related Old World plant for which similar effects were described by [|Avicenna] in eleventh century [|Persia]. The closely related //[|Datura stramonium]// differs in having smaller flowers and tooth-edged leaves, and //[|Datura wrightii]// in having wider, 5-toothed (instead of 10-toothed) flowers.