BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
CampripGr, Massacnusetts, JANUARY 16, 1959 Vou 18, No. 6 
NEW CONSIDERATIONS IN AN 
OLD GENUS: DATURA 
BY 
ARTHUR S. Barclay 
THE genus Datura has received considerable attention 
over the years from ethnobotanists and pharmacologists 
whose interest in this group of plants stems from the 
presence of the toxic alkaloids contained in most, if not 
all, of the species. ‘The herbaceous members of the genus 
have assumed an outstanding position in the annals of 
experimental botany at the hands of geneticists and cy- 
tologists. In spite of the amount of space devoted to this 
genus in the literature, we are still in need of an adequate 
taxonomic treatment. It is hoped that this paper will 
help to clarify some of the nomenclatorial intricacies sur- 
rounding two species well known to botanists and work- 
ers in allied fields. Furthermore, descriptions of three 
new species which were discovered during the preparation 
of a monograph of the genus are included. 
There has been much controversy concerning the cor- 
rect name for the species which has been known as Da- 
tura meteloides DC. ex Dunal, but which preferably 
should be called D. inoawia Miller. In order to under- 
stand how this confusion came about it is necessary to 
present a brief résumé of the nomenclatorial history of 
these concepts. 
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