Datura wrightii - Jimson Weed - by Russ Kleinman (RK)The Good - Our vegetable gardens are filled with members of this plant family in late summer - tomatoes, peppers (both mild and spicy hot), potatoes, and shiny aubergine-colored eggplant. In fact, one common name for Solanaceae is "Potato Family." Petunias are included in this family and commonly cultivated as ornamentals. This plant family has been under cultivation for centuries as a safe food source for human populations.

Safe, that is, unless one takes a big bite of certain varieties of Habanero chili (Capsicum chinense), rated on the Scoville heat units (SHU) scale at up to 1 million heat units! That's 1 million parts water to pepper extract required to put out the fire. For comparison, bell peppers have 0 SHU and jalapeño peppers as much as 5,000 SHU. The only antidote appears to be a fat protein such as butter, milk, or cheese. A good strong margarita may help too, as alcohol works as a solvent. Nightshade is another common name for this plant family that includes New Mexico natives as well as invasive plants. Sacred thorn-apple, Datura wrightii, Wolfberry (Lycium sp.), and Ground-Cherry (Physalis sp.) are examples of familiar natives bearing fruit in late summer.

The Bad - Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium; Downy thorn-apple, Datura inoxia; and certain nightshades and horsenettles, Solanum sp., are examples of invasive weeds known to occur in New Mexico. All members of the genus Datura are poisonous. The seeds, especially, contain tropane alkaloids that cause hallucinations and seizures. The settlers on Jamestown Island discovered the near deadly effects of Datura stramonium and used it to their advantage in 1677 when they slipped some leaves into the food of British soldiers sent to put down an uprising of the fledgling colony. The nickname "Jamestown Weed" gradually evolved into "Jimson Weed," the bane of cattlemen. When I see Jimson Weed I think of Georgia O'Keeffe's several early depictions of Datura.

The Dangerous - Black Henbane, Hyoscymus niger, another weedy invasive annual, occurs in New Mexico and is just as poisonous as Datura. Henbane is recognized primarily by its rank odor; among its common names are Fetid Nightshade, Hog's Bane, and stinking Roger! The Romans used henbane in combination with opium poppy and mandrake as a very risky form of anesthesia.

The Deadly - Medical students memorize a mnemonic trick to help them recognize signs of poisoning: "Hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as a beet, and mad as a hatter." Madness refers to meaningless speech, a sign of poisoning by the deadly nightshade Atropa belladonna. Fortunately, this plant is not known in New Mexico. Perhaps the most deadly member of the Nightshade family is tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum. New Mexico has two native members of the tobacco family, Nicotiana attenuata, Coyote Tobacco and Nicotiana trigonophylla, Desert Tobacco. The deadly cultivated Nicotiana tabacum has taken the lives of ninety million people worldwide, fueled wars, and led to the establishment of slavery — and it supports a global industry worth $300 billion.

References:

• Allred, Kelly W. Flora Neomexicana I: The Vascular Flora of New Mexico. 2008. Lulu Books.
• Stewart, Amy. Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities. 2009. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.