DATURA

genus of plants of the potato family Solanaceae (q.v.; order Solanales), several species of which are collected for use as drugs and others of which are cultivated for their large, trumpet-shaped, fragrant flowers. Many are considered weeds in warm parts of the world. Of special interest are the thornapple, or jimsonweed (q.v.; D. stramonium), the source of stramonium, a crude drug with narcotic and hypnotic effects; and D. innoxia and others, which have long been used by various peoples, including Mexican Indians, in their religious ceremonies.