Warning

Seek medical assistance for all ingestions and eye exposures.

Description

A softly hairy annual herb up to 1m tall, often with purplish stems. A weed of roadsides, waste places and cultivation.

Flowers are pendulous and trumpet shaped, deep purple outside, lavender to white inside; 14-20cm long with 5 lobes ending in a fine point. Flowers are usually double or triple.

Alternate leaves are 8-17cm long and 4-17cm wide; leaf margins are wavy or serrated, 2-3 lobed on each side.

Toxicity

  • Extremely toxic

  • Irritant to skin or eyes

  • Respiratory irritant

Symptoms

All parts of the plant are toxic. Symptoms may include intense thirst, difficulty with speech and swallowing, vomiting and diarrhoea, fever, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, dilated pupils, seizures and coma. The perfume can cause respiratory irritation, headaches, nausea and light-headedness. Eye contact with the sap may cause dilated pupils and temporary blindness.

Images

Photo by Lorna Ngugi

Details

Common name: Hairy thornapple

Botanical nameDatura metel

Other common names: Devil’s trumpet; hairy angel’s trumpet

Family: Solanaceae

General description: A softly hairy annual herb up to 1m tall, often with purplish stems. A weed of roadsides, waste places and cultivation.

Flowers: Flowers are pendulous and trumpet shaped, deep purple outside, lavender to white inside; 14-20cm long with 5 lobes ending in a fine point. Flowers are usually double or triple.

Leaves: Alternate leaves are 8-17cm long and 4-17cm wide; leaf margins are wavy or serrated, 2-3 lobed on each side.

Fruit/Berries: The fruit are rounded capsules 3-4cm in diameter and covered with very short blunt spines. The seeds are flat and brown, 4-5mm long.

Last updated: July 2023