I have this plant in my garden and I do not know what it is. Could someone please identify it for me.
It’s not the best picture – I can’t tell if the leaves are fuzzy or if the picture is fuzzy. If the leaves are fuzzy, it might be some kind of begonia.
Datura stramonium, or common thornapple. Very pretty, very poisonous.
Yep. When **Maastricht **says “poisonous”, s/he means “makes you trip balls if you touch it too much or eat any part of the plant.” It’s a potent hallucinogen, used in some tribal ceremonies. It’s very hard to regulate the dosage, and, as I said, it works transdermally as well as orally. It is NOT a plant to play Castaneda Roulette with. It should not be used recreationally, and should be used spiritually only under the close supervision of a shaman well-versed in it’s use. It’s also a very common ornamental plant, especially in the Southern U.S.
If you decide to remove it (and I would if you have small children who play outside), make sure you wear long sleeves and heavy work gloves. Wash your clothes afterwards in hot water to make sure all the oils are removed.
Now that all that scariness is addressed, I’ll say I loooove datura. It’s such a beautiful plant, with gorgeous flowers and lucious leaves. I had one indoors in a pot for a year before giving it away when I had a baby.
If you want a good laugh, go to the erowid.org website, look up datura, and read the “experiences” links…
stories of horses with ESP and waking up naked in a cop car are common
Those who survive it tell of very wild hallucinogenic experiences, but please do NOT let that tempt you. I personally know of two people who died trying.
Very, very dangerous.
Are you sure they’re the same plant? The leaves on the datura are wrinkled and on the other one they are flat. Also, the veins are lighter and they aren’t on the datura. They seem to grow in a different pattern too.
Flowers are similar, though.
It looks like they may be in the same family, but the leaves are definitely a different shape. I am posting a higher resolution picture to see if that helps.
Biddee, you’re correct. Your plant probably is a close relative from D. Stramonium. All belong to the large, extended Datura family. Just google " Datura" for pictures and you’ll find yours.
AFAIK, all members of the family have more or less the same poisonous and hallucinogenic properties.