One of the Southwest’s most attractive plants, the Sacred Datura, is also one of its most deadly. Every now and then newspapers carry the grisly story of someone who, after experimenting with a species of Datura, wanders for days through desert delusions until brought down by the searing heat. While seeking heavenly visions, the user ignored the possibility that he might be creating his own physical hell. For along with the hallucinogens, this plant packs a payload capable of ending the search.
Otherwise known as thorn apple and Indian apple, the Sacred Datura is closely related to jimsonweed and is part of the nightshade clan, a worldwide plant family encompassing both reputable and notorious members. The most famous of these are tomatoes, eggplants, hot and sweet peppers, and potatoes. Of course, these plants were also considered poisonous in the past. Datura favors the less beloved branch of the nightshade family, the one implicated in murder, witchcraft, seductions, and orgies. (Read the rest …)
Botanists rely on Latin names for plants to avoid confusion, since the flora they work with contains thousands of species, some of them common to many different lands. But it also strips away most of the romance. Would you be as interested in the appearance of a Houstonia caerulea as you might be about seeing a quaker-lady? Or does the pompous sound of Saponaria officinalis delight your ears as much as its other name, bouncing bet? Probably not.
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