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About Jimsonweed

Jimsonweed, also called Thorn Apple or Devil's Snare, is a notorious annual weed found worldwide, believed to have originated in Mexico or Central Asia. It grows 2 to 5 feet tall with coarse, irregularly toothed leaves that emit a foul odor when crushed. The plant produces striking trumpet-shaped white or purple flowers, 3 to 4 inches long, that open in the evening and attract hawk moths. These are followed by distinctive spiny seed capsules resembling medieval maces, each containing hundreds of small black seeds. Every part of the plant is extremely poisonous, containing tropane alkaloids — scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine — that cause severe hallucinations, hyperthermia, rapid heartbeat, seizures, and death. Despite its toxicity, the plant has a long history in traditional medicine and shamanic rituals across many cultures. It colonizes disturbed ground, roadsides, and agricultural fields with aggressive self-seeding. The name 'Jimsonweed' derives from Jamestown, Virginia, where British soldiers were famously poisoned by it in 1676.

• Drought-tolerant
• Fragrant
• Fast-growing
• Medicinal

How to care for Jimsonweed

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At a Glance

Bloom time

Fragrance

Toxicity

History

Datura stramonium — known as jimsonweed, thornapple, or devil's trumpet — is likely native to Central America (Mexico, Central American highlands), though it has naturalized so thoroughly across temperate and tropical regions worldwide that its original range is debated. The common name "jimsonweed" is a corruption of "Jamestown weed" and derives from a famous 1676 incident: British soldiers sent to Jamestown, Virginia to suppress Bacon's Rebellion were given a salad containing D. stramonium leaves and, according to eyewitness Robert Beverley's 1705 history, "turned natural fools" for eleven days before recovering — the incident anchored the species' reputation in English-speaking North America. All parts of the plant contain high concentrations of tropane alkaloids — scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine — making it one of the most dangerously poisonous common weeds of temperate and warm-temperate regions.

It has a long history of ritual and medicinal use in Mesoamerican and Mississippian North American indigenous societies, in ancient Indian Ayurveda (where it is dedicated to Shiva and called "dhatura"), and in European witchcraft tradition (it was likely one of the ingredients in "witches' flying ointments"). Modern recreational use is extremely dangerous — the therapeutic-to-toxic window is narrow and unpredictable, and multiple deaths and permanent psychosis cases have been documented.

Datura stramonium gained infamy during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, when British soldiers in Jamestown, Virginia ate the plant in a salad and suffered days of delirious hallucination — hence 'Jamestown Weed,' shortened to Jimsonweed. The plant has been used in shamanic rituals by Native American peoples, Hindu sadhus, and traditional African healers for millennia. In modern medicine, its alkaloids atropine and scopolamine became critical pharmaceutical compounds — atropine is still used to dilate pupils and treat nerve agent poisoning.

Symbolism & meaning

Related plants

More Datura plants

• Sacred DaturaDatura wrightii

Plants with similar care

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• Fragrant AbeliaAbelia mosanensis
• Large-Flowered AbeliaAbelia uniflora
• Glossy AbeliaAbelia x grandiflora

Frequently asked questions