Datura
| Datura | |
|---|---|
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| Datura metel | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Subfamily: | Solanoideae |
| Tribe: | Datureae |
| Genus: |
Datura L. |
| Type species | |
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Datura stramonium L. |
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| Species | |
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Datura is a genus of nine species of poisonous vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. They are commonly known as daturas, but also known as devil's trumpets, not to be confused with angel's trumpets, its closely related genus Brugmansia. They are also sometimes called moonflowers, jimsonweed, devil's weed, hell's bells, thorn-apple, and many more. Its precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe. Its distribution within the Americas and North Africa, however, is most likely restricted to the United States and Mexico and Southern Canada in North America, and Tunisia in Africa, where the highest species diversity occurs.
All species of Datura are poisonous, especially their seeds and flowers.
Some South American plants formerly thought of as Datura are now treated as belonging to the distinct genus Brugmansia (Brugmansia differs from Datura in that it is woody, making shrubs or small trees, and it has pendulous flowers, rather than erect ones). Other related taxa include Hyosyamus niger, Atropa belladonna, Mandragora officinarum, and many more.
The name Datura is taken from Hindi धतूरा dhatūra 'thorn-apple', ultimately from Sanskrit धत्तूर dhattūra 'white thorn-apple'. In the Ayurvedic text Sushruta different species of Datura are also referred to as kanaka and unmatta. Record of this name in English dates back to 1662.Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to one type in The Scarlet Letter as apple-Peru. In Mexico, its common name is toloache.
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Wikipedia