Datura metel L.

Family: Solanaceae

Taxonomy : Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Solanales > Solanaceae > Datura > D. metel

Common name [English]: Thorn apple, Purple Horn-of-Plenty, Devils Weed, Jimpson Weed

Vernacular name [Malayalam]: ഉമ്മം

Nativity: Texas to Colombia.

Habitat: Degraded dry and moist deciduous forests and wastelands.

Description: Subshrubs; branches somewhat zigzag. Leaves entire or angled with acute lobes, c. 12 x 8 cm, ovate, base oblique, apex acute or acuminate; petiole to 6 cm long. Flowers solitary in axil, erect; pedicels 1-1.5 cm long. Calyx 6-8 cm long, tubular, 5-lobed, minutely pubescent. Corolla creamy-white, c. 15 cm long, funnel-shaped; teeth 5, cuspidate. Stamens 5, attached towards the base of corolla tube, included, sub equal; filaments hairy at base. Capsule c. 3 cm across, spherical, covered with short spines, dehiscence irregular. Seeds compressed, c. 5 mm long, smooth, brown.

Flowering and Fruiting: March-December

Uses: Medicine in ayurvedha, sidhha, modern and traditional chineese.

Cultivation: Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org