Datura

Angel's trumpet Datura metel, from here.

Belongs within: Solanales.

Datura, the thorn apples or jimson weeds, is a genus of mostly herbaceous plants with spiny fruits. Some species are agriculturally significant due to their high toxicity to livestock.

Characters (from Black & Robertson 1965): Mostly robust annuals; hairs, when present, simple not stellate; leaves alternate, petiolate, the uppermost in pairs; flowers solitary, interpetiolar. Calyx tubular, five-angled and acutely five-toothed, circumsciss a little above base after flowering; corolla funnel-shaped, tube long, limb folded in bud, very shortly five-lobed, each lobe ending in a slender point; stamens enclosed, with linear anters opening lengthwise; ovary two-celled; capsule large, prickly, four-celled by secondary dissepiments, opening septifragally at summit by four valves, subtended by stiff persistent base of calyx; seeds reniform, compressed, thickened on margin, usually somewhat wrinkled.

<==Datura
    |--D. arborea [=Brugmansia arborea] BR65
    |--D. discolor D51
    |--D. fastuosa BR65
    |--D. ferox H06
    |--D. innoxia H06
    |--D. leichardtii BR65
    |--D. metel BR65
    |--D. meteloides D37
    |--D. quercifolia D51
    |--D. stramonium BR65
    |--D. suaveolens J87
    `--D. tatula [=D. stramonium var. tatula] BR65

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BR65] Black, J. M., & E. L. Robertson. 1965. Flora of South Australia. Part IV. Oleaceae-Compositae. W. L. Hawes, Government Printer: Adelaide.

[D37] Dobzhansky, T. 1937. Genetics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press: New York.

[D51] Dobzhansky, T. 1951. Genetics and the Origin of Species, 3^rd ed. Columbia University Press: New York.

[H06] Henderson, L. 2006. Comparisons of invasive plants in southern Africa originating from southern temperate, northern temperate and tropical regions. Bothalia 36 (2): 201-222.

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum – Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1-136.