DATDEA.] SOLANACE&. 131 



Occasionally met with as an alien in the Sub-Himalayan districts also in 

 Merwdra. DISTRIB. Himalaya from Kashmir to Sikkim up to 8,000 

 ft. ; also in the hilly districts of Central and S. India, and generally 

 throughout the temperate and warmer regions of the world. It occurs 

 in Britain as a casual weed. DeOandolle regarded the plant as having 

 come originally from the countries bordering the Caspian, and to have 

 entered India, by way of Persia and Afghanistan. The Himalayan 

 form has been referred to D. Wallichii, Dun., which is a taller plant 

 more canescent and with larger flowers. 



2. D. Tatula, Linn. 8p. PI. 256; Nees in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii, 76. 

 D. Stramonium var. Tatula, D.C.;F. B. I. iv, 242 ; Watt, E. D. ; Comm. 

 Prod. India; Prain Beng. PL 750; Collett Fl. 8iml. 344. 



Similar in many respects to D. Stramonium, but the stems are more 

 branching and usually tinged with purple ; the leaves are more 

 sharply toothed and they are often cordate at the base ; the flowers 

 are larger and bluish or purple in colour, and the longer prickles of 

 the capsule are more of one size. 



The distribution of this species in India is like that of the preceding. 

 Ifc is found at Simla and in other parts of the Himalaya, also near 

 villages in the Sub-Himalayan tracts and in the hilly districts further 

 south. Believed by DeCandolle and others to be a native of Central 

 America. In Britain it is known as a casual weed, and it has been 

 introduced into Australia. 



3. D. Mtetel, Linn. 8p. PL 179; F. B.I. iv, 243; Watt, E. D.; Comm. 

 Prod. Ind.; Cooke FL Bomb, ii, 273.. 



Whole plant densely clothed with greyish tomentum. Stem erect, 3-4 ft 

 high, stout, herbaceous, terete. Leaves 6-8 in. long, ovate-lanceolate or 

 broadly ovate, acute or acuminate, unequal at the base and often cordate, 

 entire or repand-dentate, densely tomentose on both surfaces and 

 generally glandular, petioles 2|-3 in. long ; peduncles at first erect, 

 afterwards nodding. Calyx about 3 in. long, inflated towards the 

 middle, persistent and reflexed in fruit ; teeth lanceolate, acuminate, 

 unequal. Corolla about twice as long as the calyx, white tinged with 

 green below, pubescent outside, limb 10-toothed. Capsule globose, 

 nodding, covered with long rather slender spines. 



I have seen no record of this plant having been found within the limits 

 of this flora, though probably occurring near habitations in the Sub- 

 Himalayan tracts. It is found not infrequently in Kashmir and in 

 other parts of the North-West Himalaya. It is not uncommon in S. 

 Europe, but it is supposed to have originally spread from S. America 

 to all other parts of the w^rld. It is regarded in India as being the 

 moat poisonous of all the species of Datura, and for this reason it is 

 much resorted to for criminal purposes. The plant is at once recog- 

 nized by the characters given above. 



