Datura stramonium

"Jimson Weed" redirects here. For the painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, see Jimson Weed (painting).

Not to be confused with Solanum incanum, also known by the common name "thorn apple".

Datura stramonium, known by the common names thorn apple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), devil's snare, or devil's trumpet,^[2] is a poisonous flowering plant of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is a species belonging to the Datura genus and Daturae tribe.^[3] Its likely origin was in Central America,^[2][4] and it has been introduced in many world regions.^[5][6][7] It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates across the world.^[2] D. stramonium has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/antimuscarinic, deliriant type), taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions.^[2][8] It is unlikely ever to become a major drug of abuse owing to effects upon both mind and body frequently perceived as being highly unpleasant, giving rise to a state of profound and long-lasting disorientation or delirium (anticholinergic syndrome) with a potentially fatal outcome. It contains tropane alkaloids which are responsible for the psychoactive effects, and may be severely toxic.^[2][9]

Jimsonweed
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Datura
Species:	D. stramonium
Binomial name
Datura stramonium L.
Synonyms^[1]
Synonymy Datura bernhardii (Lundstr.) Datura bertolonii (Parl. ex Guss.) Datura cabanesii (P.Fourn.) Datura capensis (Bernh.) Datura ferocissima (Cabanès & P.Fourn.) Datura ferox (Nees 1834 not L. 1756) Datura hybrida (Ten.) Datura inermis (Juss. ex Jacq.) Datura laevis (L.f.) Datura loricata (Sieber ex Bernh.) Datura lurida (Salisb.) Datura microcarpa (Godr.) Datura muricata (Godr. 1873 not Bernh. 1818 nor Link 1821) Datura parviflora (Salisb.) Datura praecox (Godr.) Datura pseudostramonium (Sieber ex Bernh.) Datura tatula (L.) Datura wallichii (Dunal) Stramonium foetidum (Scop.) Stramonium laeve (Moench) Stramonium spinosum (Lam.) Stramonium tatula (Moench) Stramonium vulgare (Moench) Stramonium vulgatum (Gaertn.)

Description

 

Mature (left) and immature (right) seed capsules

Datura stramonium is an erect, annual, freely branching herb that forms a bush up to 60 to 150 cm (2 to 5 ft) tall.^[10][11][12]

The root is long, thick, fibrous, and white. The stem is stout, erect, leafy, smooth, and pale yellow-green to reddish purple in color. The stem forks off repeatedly into branches and each fork forms a leaf and a single, erect flower.^[12]

The leaves are about 8 to 20 cm (3–8 in) long, smooth, toothed,^[11] soft, and irregularly undulated.^[12] The upper surface of the leaves is a darker green, and the bottom is a light green.^[11] The leaves have a bitter and nauseating taste, which is imparted to extracts of the herb, and remains even after the leaves have been dried.^[12]

Datura stramonium generally flowers throughout the summer. The fragrant flowers have a pleasing odour; are trumpet-shaped, white to creamy or violet, and 6 to 9 cm (2+1⁄2–3+1⁄2 in) long; and grow on short stems from either the axils of the leaves or the places where the branches fork. The calyx is long and tubular, swollen at the bottom, and sharply angled, surmounted by five sharp teeth. The corolla, which is folded and only partially open, is white, funnel-shaped, and has prominent ribs. The flowers open at night, emitting a pleasant fragrance, and are fed upon by nocturnal moths.^[12]

The egg-shaped seed capsule is 3 to 8 cm (1–3 in) in diameter and either covered with spines or bald. At maturity, it splits into four chambers, each with dozens of small, black seeds.^[12]

Etymology and common names

 

 

Fruits and seeds – MHNT

The genus name is derived from the plant's Hindi name, dhatūra, ultimately from Sanskrit dhattūra, 'white thorn-apple'.^[13] The origin of Neo-Latin stramonium is unknown; the name Stramonia was used in the 17th century for various Datura species.^[14] There is some evidence that Stramonium is originally from Greek στρύχνον, 'nightshade' and μανικόν, 'which makes mad'.^[15] It is called umathai (ஊமத்தை) in Tamil.^[16]

In the United States the plant is called "jimsonweed", or more rarely "Jamestown weed" deriving from the town of Jamestown, Virginia, where English soldiers consumed it while attempting to suppress Bacon's Rebellion. They spent 11 days in altered mental states:

The James-Town Weed (which resembles the Thorny Apple of Peru, and I take to be the plant so call'd) is supposed to be one of the greatest coolers in the world. This being an early plant, was gather'd very young for a boil'd salad, by some of the soldiers sent thither to quell the rebellion of Bacon (1676); and some of them ate plentifully of it, the effect of which was a very pleasant comedy, for they turned 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; and another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner like a monkey, grinning and making mows [grimaces] at them; a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll.

In this frantic condition they were confined, lest they should, in their folly, destroy themselves—though it was observed that all their actions were full of innocence and good nature. Indeed, they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallowed in their own excrements if they had not been prevented. A thousand such simple tricks they played, and after eleven days returned themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed.

— Robert Beverley, Jr., The History and Present State of Virginia, Book II: Of the Natural Product and Conveniencies in Its Unimprov'd State, Before the English Went Thither, 1705^[17]

Common names for Datura stramonium vary by region^[2] and include thornapple,^[18] moon flower,^[19] hell's bells, devil's trumpet, devil's weed, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed, pricklyburr, false castor oil plant,^[20] and devil's cucumber.^[21]

Range and habitat

Datura stramonium is native to North America, but was spread widely to the Old World early where it has also become naturalized.^[2] It was scientifically described and named by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753, although it had been described a century earlier by botanists such as Nicholas Culpeper.^[22] Today, it grows wild in all the world's warm and temperate regions, where it is found along roadsides and at dung-rich livestock enclosures.^[23][24][25] In Europe, it is found as a weed in garbage dumps and wastelands,^[23] and is toxic to animals consuming it.^[26] In South Africa, it is colloquially known by the Afrikaans name malpitte ('mad seeds').^[27]

Through observation, the seed is thought to be carried by birds and spread in their droppings.^{[citation needed]} Its seeds can lie dormant underground for years and germinate when the soil is disturbed. The Royal Horticultural Society has advised worried gardeners to dig it up or have it otherwise removed,^[28] while wearing gloves to handle it.^[29]

Toxicity

All parts of Datura plants contain dangerous levels of the tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine, which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics.^[2][9] The risk of fatal overdose is high among uninformed users, and many hospitalizations occur among recreational users who ingest the plant for its psychoactive effects.^[9][23][30] Deliberate or inadvertent poisoning resulting from smoking jimsonweed and other related species has been reported.^[31]

The amount of toxins varies widely from plant to plant. As much as a 20:1 variation can be found between plants, and a given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and the local weather conditions.^[23] A particularly strong difference has been found between plants growing in their native ranges and plants that have adjusted to growing in non-native ranges where the atropine and scopolamine concentration may be up to 20–40 times lower than in the native range, it is suspected that this is an evolutionary response to lower predatory pressures.^[32] Additionally, within a given plant, toxin concentration varies by part and even from leaf to leaf. When the plant is younger, the ratio of scopolamine to atropine is about 3:1; after flowering, this ratio is reversed, with the amount of scopolamine continuing to decrease as the plant gets older.^[33] In traditional cultures, a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of Datura was critical to minimize harm.^[23] An individual seed contains about 0.1 mg of atropine, and the approximate fatal dose for adult humans is >10 mg atropine or >2–4 mg scopolamine.^[34]

Datura intoxication typically produces delirium, hallucination, hyperthermia, tachycardia, bizarre behavior, urinary retention, and severe mydriasis with resultant painful photophobia that can last several days.^[9] Pronounced amnesia is another commonly reported effect.^[35] The onset of symptoms generally occurs around 30 to 60 minutes after ingesting the herb. These symptoms generally last from 24 to 48 hours, but have been reported in some cases to last as long as two weeks.^[31]

As with other cases of anticholinergic poisoning, intravenous physostigmine can be administered in severe cases as an antidote.^[36]

Natural defenses

These chemical production responses present in Datura stramonium function as a natural defense for the plant against dangers.^[37] Such dangers can range from biotic factors such as herbivores, pathogens, viruses, fungi and oomycetes to abiotic conditions such as drought, and light, temperature, and nutrient deprivation. Datura stramonium can adjust to all these conditions through protein activity that is correlated with specific domains. Examples of this are terpenoid production to target herbivores present in multiple sites and abiotic stress responses. The abiotic responses are driven primarily by protein kinase regulatory subunits which are over-represented, expanded, and positively selected. These traits also show signs of physicochemical divergence which put emphasis on the plant's overall adaptability.^[38] In addition to this, terpenoids play a key role in mediating plant defense responses as they trigger terpene metabolite activity.^[39][38] Such activity has the effect of defending against herbivore damage through a sulfakinin domain (also known as SK) that reduces sensitivity of taste receptors for certain insects that come into contact with the plant. Additionally, terpenoids serve as attractants for carnivorous entities that would then attack these same herbivores. Gene domains relating to this immune response have been seen in positively selected and expanded proteins in Datura stramonium.^[39] Overall, these compounds target the central nervous system of organisms that ingest them to deter the herbivorous behavior.^[12] Terpenoids are also used for plant to plant communication which could be used for a community wide threat response.^[38]

The physiology of the plant itself is important for understanding patterns of defense as its status as an annual plant limits opportunities for biomass regrowth post destruction due to inability to engage regrowth meristems. This results in the leaves being susceptible to injury from even small instances of attacks. To compensate, they have a large initial size for redundancy. These leaves also have a longer longevity and ability to metabolize even when damaged. However, the way these plants have evolved to display these characteristics differs from traditional defense mechanisms as Datura stramonium uses a combination of both resistance and growth simultaneously to address these issues instead of relying exclusively on one or the other. It has been hypothesized that this is due to the fact that these two methods have no negative correlation between them in experimental conditions. However resource limitations may result in a tradeoff between one method of defense versus the other. In addition, herbivores are not solely the driving force that triggers these responses within the plant. Another factor that impacts behavior is the fact that due to the wide habitat range, a number of different region specific response patterns have been observed. However, these defensive responses have been observed to have varying impacts on growth and fitness when put to the test against predators. Studies in ecological reserves have shown that herbivore presence can either increase or decrease plant growth, fitness, and resistance. These results can be attributed to the significant genetic variation of the individual variants present in testing.^[37]

Regional variation

The Datura family itself has seen little research done in regards to its various genomic sequences. As such, it is difficult to track the evolution of its traits (aside from a few instances of model species) which results in a limited understanding of how it has evolved to adapt to various environmental conditions. However some limited studies have been done which have looked into Datura diversity. Datura stramonium diverged from the rest of the Datura family around 30 million years ago. This terminal branch has the most rapidly significant evolving gene families compared to other members of the Solanaceae family. The most recent contractions in the tree also correspond with the most recent common ancestor of the Daura species clade. However the subspecies of Datura stramonium tends to vary greatly in regards to both gene family contractions and expansions. Variables such as immunity, response to abiotic stress, and defense against biotic threats determine gene expansion signaling, positive selection, and physicochemical divergence. Despite this, Datura genomes have high amounts of repetitive DNA elements even compared to other Solanaceae species' genomes in addition to a recent yet independent surge in retrotransposon expansion. Major genomic variations have been witnessed most likely through the rapid spread of the plant's range due to human behavior. An example of this is a 59-fold difference in tropane alkaloid concentration present in different regions of Mexico.^[38] Datura stramonium regional variants have been observed to have an overall similar genome size to each other.^[37][38]

Tropane alkaloid evolution and implementation

Tropane alkaloid biosynthesis is another avenue of defense with codons positively selected and expanded in the Datura branch. It is aided by the tropane alkaloid Littorine rearrangement which is very important to scopolamine and atropine/hyoscyamine production, all of which serve to debilitate any organism that would come into contact with them. Datura stramonium has the highest tropane alkaloid production level in all the Solanaceae family, with scopolamine, atropine, and anisodamine being the primary tropane alkaloids found in the plant that inhibit neurotransmitters. The pmt gene family responsible for tropane alkaloid development has been observed to have significant gene expansion in the Datura genus evolution. The least common ancestor only had one gene copy while modern variants have a  range of three to two present which results in higher mutation rates for traits involved with these various alkaloids.^[38] Use of tropane alkaloids however have had development spread out around many angiosperm families and evolutionary distances. Their presence has been reported to have arisen multiple times in Solanaceae lineages, some instances of which being independent of each other. This gives credence to the same diversification of tropane alkaloid production witnessed in the Datura stramonium regional variants.^[39] Another aspect of these varying Solanaceae lineages is that enzymes from completely different protein groups have been observed to be utilized to form similar biosynthesis reactions. In addition to this, differing protein folds and domain expressions correlate to different levels of tropane alkaloid production.^[38]

Poisoning incidents

In Australia in December 2022, around 200 people reported becoming ill after eating products containing spinach sold mostly through Costco. Datura stramonium was identified as the contaminant, whose young leaves had been picked alongside the spinach leaves. The weed had spread due to increased rainfall. The grower, Riviera Farms, is from the Gippsland region of Victoria and acted promptly to eradicate the weed.^[40]

Uses

Note that in all cases, safer alternatives probably exist. The following must not be construed as medical advice.

Traditional medicine

 

D. stramonium var. tatula, flower (front)

One of the primary active agents in Datura is atropine which has been used in traditional medicine and recreationally over centuries.^[2][9] The leaves are generally smoked either in a cigarette or a pipe. During the late 18th century, James Anderson, the English Physician General of the East India Company, learned of the practice and popularized it in Europe.^[41][42] The Chinese also used it as a form of anesthesia during surgery.^[43]

Early medicine

John Gerard's Herball (1597) states,^[12]

[T]he juice of Thornapple, boiled with hog's grease, cureth all inflammations whatsoever, all manner of burnings and scaldings, as well of fire, water, boiling lead, gunpowder, as that which comes by lightning and that in very short time, as myself have found in daily practice, to my great credit and profit.

William Lewis reported, in the late 18th century, that the juice could be made into "a very powerful remedy in various convulsive and spasmodic disorders, epilepsy and mania," and was also "found to give ease in external inflammations and haemorrhoids".^[44]

In treatment of respiratory diseases

Henry Hyde Salter discusses D. stramonium as a treatment for asthma in his 19th-century work On Asthma: its Pathology and Treatment.

Smoking of herbs, including D. stramonium, has been a recognized temporary relief to asthmatics by physicians since antiquity, onto the early 20th century.^[45][46] The mainstream medical use of smoking D. stramonium to treat asthma would later wane in popularity, following new understandings of asthma as an allergic inflammatory reaction, and developments in pharmacology that provided a variety of new, immediately more effective treatments for asthma.^[46]

Muscarinic antagonists, found in the tribe Datureae (among other plants), such as atropine, and synthetic tropane derivatives selective for muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes such as ipratropium bromide and tiotropium bromide, are prescribed in some cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.^[47]

Spiritualism and the occult

 

Seed capsule, showing dehiscence of the four valves to release seeds

Across the Americas, indigenous peoples, such as the Algonquian, Aztecs, Navajo, Cherokee, Luiseño and the indigenous peoples of Marie-Galante used this plant or other Datura species in sacred ceremonies for its hallucinogenic properties.^[48][49][50] In Ethiopia, some students and debtrawoch (lay priests), use D. stramonium to "open the mind" to be more receptive to learning, and creative and imaginative thinking.^[51]

The common name "datura" has its origins in India, where the sister species Datura metel is considered particularly sacred – believed to be a favorite of Shiva in Shaivism.^[52] Both Datura stramonium and D. metel have reportedly been used by some sadhus and charnel ground ascetics, such as the Aghori as both an entheogen and ordeal poison. It was sometimes mixed with cannabis as well as highly poisonous plants like Aconitum ferox to intentionally create dysphoric experiences.^[53] They used unpleasant or toxic plants such as these in order to achieve spiritual liberation (moksha) in settings of extreme horror and discomfort.^[54][55]

Among its sacred and visionary purposes, jimson weed has also garnered a reputation for its magical uses in various cultures throughout history. In his book, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Wade Davis identified D. stramonium, called "zombi cucumber" in Haiti, as a central ingredient of the concoction vodou priests use to create zombies.^[56][57] However it has been noted that the process of zombification is not directly performed by vodou priests of the loa but rather by bokors.^[58] In European witchcraft, D. stramonium was also a common ingredient used for making witches' flying ointment along with other poisonous plants of the nightshade family.^[59] It was often responsible for the hallucinogenic effects of magical or lycanthropic salves and potions.^[8][60] During the witch-phobia craze in Early Modern times in England and parts of the colonial Northeastern United States it was often considered unlucky or inappropriate to grow the plant in one's garden as it was considered to be an aid to incantations.^[12]

Cultivation

Datura stramonium prefers rich, calcareous soil. Adding nitrogen fertilizer to the soil increases the concentration of alkaloids present in the plant. D. stramonium can be grown from seed, which is sown with several feet between plants. It is sensitive to frost, so should be sheltered during cold weather. The plant is harvested when the fruits are ripe, but still green. To harvest, the entire plant is cut down, the leaves are stripped from the plant, and everything is left to dry. When the fruits begin to burst open, the seeds are harvested. For intensive plantations, leaf yields of 1,100 to 1,700 kilograms per hectare (1,000 to 1,500 lb/acre) and seed yields of 780 kg/ha (700 lb/acre) are possible.^[61]

External links

•   Media related to Datura stramonium at Wikimedia Commons
•   Data related to Datura stramonium at Wikispecies
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Profile: Datura stramonium L.
• Datura stramonium at Liber Herbarum II
• Datura spp. at Erowid
• Datura stramonium Pictures and information

References

1. "Datura stramonium L. – The Plant List". theplantlist.org. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
2. "Datura stramonium (jimsonweed)". CABI. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
3. "GRIN Genera of Solanaceae tribe Datureae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
4. "Datura stramonium in Flora of China @ efloras.org". efloras.org. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
5. "Datura stramonium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
6. "Biota of North America Program, 2014 county distribution map". bonap.net.
7. Australia, Atlas of Living. "Datura stramonium: Common thornapple | Atlas of Living Australia". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
8. Schultes, Richard Evans; Albert Hofmann (1979). Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-056089-7.
9. Glatstein, Miguel; Alabdulrazzaq, Fatoumah; Scolnik, Dennis (2016). "Belladonna Alkaloid Intoxication". American Journal of Therapeutics. 23 (1): e74–e77. doi:10.1097/01.mjt.0000433940.91996.16. ISSN 1075-2765. PMID 24263161. S2CID 10336715.
10. Stace, Clive (1997). New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. p. 532. ISBN 978-0-521-65315-2.
11. Henkel, Alice (1911). "Jimson weed". American Medicinal Leaves and Herbs. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 30.
12. Grieve, Maud (1971). A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 2. Dover Publications. p. 804. ISBN 978-0-486-22799-3.
13. Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
14. Francis Hamilton (1823). "A Commentary on the Second Part of the Hortus Malabaricus". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. XIV: 233.
15. "Datura species". Plants Poisonous to Livestock. Cornell University Department of Animal Science. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
16. Gnaana (16 October 2017). "ஊமத்தைங்காய் கொண்டு எத்தனை விதமான நோய்கள் குணமாக்கலாம்? உங்களுக்கு தெரியுமா?". tamil.boldsky.com (in Tamil). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
17. Beverley, Robert. "Book II: Of the Natural Product and Conveniencies in Its Unimprov'd State, Before the English Went Thither". The History and Present State of Virginia, In Four Parts. University of North Carolina. p. 24 (Book II). Retrieved 15 December 2008.
18. Bunney, Sarah. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs.
19. . University of Texas El Paso / Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program & Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
20. Joseph Henry Maiden (1920). The Weeds of New South Wales. Vol. 1. W.A. Gullick, Government printer. p. 76. Thorn Apple or False Castor Oil Plant)
21. "Thorn-apple, Datura stramonium – Flowers – NatureGate". luontoportti.com.
22. Culpeper, Nicholas (1653), Culpeper's Complete Herbal, Slough: W Foulsham & Co Ltd, pp. 368–369, ISBN 978-0-572-00203-9
23. Preissel, Ulrike; Hans-Georg Preissel (2002). Brugmansia and Datura: Angel's Trumpets and Thorn Apples. Firefly Books. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-55209-598-0.
24. Veblen, K.E. (2012). "Savanna glade hotspots: Plant community development and synergy with large herbivores". Journal of Arid Environments. 78: 119–127. Bibcode:2012JArEn..78..119V. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.10.016.
25. Oudhia P., Tripathi R.S.(1998).Allelopathic potential of Datura stramonium L.. Crop. Res. 16 (1) : 37-40.
26. Cortinovis, Cristina; Caloni, Francesca (8 December 2015). "Alkaloid-containing plants poisonous to cattle and horses in Europe". Toxins. 7 (12): 5301–5307. doi:10.3390/toxins7124884. ISSN 2072-6651. PMC 4690134. PMID 26670251.
27. "Malpitte Madness". S. A. Medical Journal. 21 December 1974. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
28. "Deadly Harry Potter plant devil's snare turns up in Suffolk pensioner's garden". Retrieved 30 August 2017.
29. "There's a devil in my garden..." Dawlish Newspapers. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
30. AJ Giannini,Drugs of Abuse--Second Edition. Los Angeles, Practice Management Information Corporation, pp.48-51. ISBN 1-57066-053-0.
31. Pennachio, Marcello; et al. (2010). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany As Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-19-537001-0.
32. Castillo, Guillermo; Calahorra‐Oliart, Adriana; Núñez‐Farfán, Juan; Valverde, Pedro L.; Arroyo, Juan; Cruz, Laura L.; Tapia‐López, Rosalinda (23 August 2019). "Selection on tropane alkaloids in native and non‐native populations of Datura stramonium". Ecology and Evolution. 9 (18): 10176–10184. doi:10.1002/ece3.5520. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 6787939. PMID 31632642.
33. Nellis, David W. (1997). Poisonous Plants and Animals of Florida and the Caribbean. Pineapple Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-56164-111-6.
34. Arnett AM (December 1995). "Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium) poisoning". Clinical Toxicology Review. 18 (3).
35. Freye, Enno (21 September 2009). Pharmacology and Abuse of Cocaine, Amphetamines, Ecstasy and Related Designer Drugs. Springer Netherlands. pp. 217–218. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2448-0_34. ISBN 978-90-481-2447-3.
36. Goldfrank, Lewis R.; Flommenbaum, Neil (2006). Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 677. ISBN 978-0-07-147914-1.
37. Valverde, P. L.; Fornoni, J.; Nunez-Farfan, J. (11 December 2002). "Evolutionary ecology of Datura stramonium: equal plant fitness benefits of growth and resistance against herbivory". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 16 (1): 127–137. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00482.x. ISSN 1010-061X. PMID 14635887. S2CID 43040585.
38. De-la-Cruz, I. M.; Hallab, A.; Olivares-Pinto, U.; Tapia-López, R.; Velázquez-Márquez, S.; Piñero, D.; Oyama, K.; Usadel, B.; Núñez-Farfán, J. (13 January 2021). "Genomic signatures of the evolution of defence against its natural enemies in the poisonous and medicinal plant Datura stramonium (Solanaceae)". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 882. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79194-1. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7806989. PMID 33441607.
39. Jirschitzka, Jan; Schmidt, Gregor W.; Reichelt, Michael; Schneider, Bernd; Gershenzon, Jonathan; D’Auria, John Charles (26 June 2012). "Plant tropane alkaloid biosynthesis evolved independently in the Solanaceae and Erythroxylaceae". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (26): 10304–10309. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10910304J. doi:10.1073/pnas.1200473109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3387132. PMID 22665766.
40. "Noxious weed thornapple responsible identified as spinach contaminant, after about 200 Australians became ill". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 December 2022.
41. Barceloux, Donald G. (2008). "Cáscara". Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Foods, Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants, and Venomous Animals. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1877. ISBN 978-1-118-38276-9.
42. Pennachio, Marcello; et al. (2010). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany As Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-19-537001-0.
43. Nellis, David W. (1997). Poisonous Plants and Animals of Florida and the Caribbean. Pineapple Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-56164-111-6.
44. William Lewis, "An Experimental History Of The Materia Medica: Stramonium"
45. von Mutius, Erika; Drazen, Jeffrey M. (2012). "A Patient with Asthma Seeks Medical Advice in 1828, 1928, and 2012". New England Journal of Medicine. 366 (9): 827–834. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1102783. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 22375974.
46. Jackson, Mark (2011). ""Divine Stramonium": The Rise and Fall of Smoking for Asthma". Medical History. 54 (2): 171–194. doi:10.1017/S0025727300000235. ISSN 0025-7273. PMC 2844275. PMID 20357985.
47. Chapman, Kenneth R. (1991). "Anticholinergic bronchodilators for adult obstructive airways disease". The American Journal of Medicine. 91 (4): S13–S16. doi:10.1016/0002-9343(91)90256-W. ISSN 0002-9343. PMID 1835290.
48. Biaggioni, Italo; et al. (2011). Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System. Academic Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-12-386525-0.
49. Pennachio, Marcello; et al. (2010). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany As Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-0-19-537001-0.
50. Davis, Wade (1997). The Serpent and the Rainbow: a Harvard scientist's astonishing journey into the secret societies of Haitian voodoo, zombis and magic. Simon & Schuster. p. ^{[page needed]}. ISBN 978-0-684-83929-5.
51. Molvaer, Reidulf Knut (1995). Socialization and Social Control in Ethiopia. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 259. ISBN 978-3-447-03662-7.
52. Pennachio, Marcello; et al. (2010). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany As Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-19-537001-0.
53. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants : Ethnopharmacology and its Applications, Rätsch, Christian, pub. Park Street Press U.S.A. 2005
54. "Indian doc focuses on Hindu cannibal sect". Today (American TV program).
55. Svoboda, Robert (1986). Aghora: At the Left Hand of God | Brotherhood of Life. ISBN 0-914732-21-8.
56. Clairvius Narcisse
57. Davis, Wade (1985), The Serpent and the Rainbow, New York: Simon & Schuster
58. Davis, Wade (1988). Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie. Robert F. Thompson, Richard E. Schultes. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1776-7.
59. Rätsch, Christian, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications pub. Park Street Press 2005
60. Hansen, Harold A. The Witch's Garden pub. Unity Press 1978 ISBN 978-0913300473
61. Chopra, I.C. (2006). Indigenous Drugs of India. Academic Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 9788185086804.