970 



DATE 



DATURA 



keeping them in moist atmosphere in closed packing- 

 boxes which are kept warm at night and heated to 80 

 or 90 F. during the day. Deglet Noor dates ripen 

 perfectly by this process and remain light-colored while 

 those ripened by the rapid process are darkened. 

 Freeman's rapid process will ripen greener dates, 

 however. 



For further discussion, see Phoenix; also the bulle- 

 tins of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 and of the experiment stations of Arizona and California. 



J. W. TOUMEY. 

 L. H. B.f 



DATISCA (old Greek name, applied to some doubt- 

 ful plant). Datiscacese. Tall perennial herbs, one of 

 which is sometimes planted in gardens. 



Glabrous branching hemp-like plants with pinnately 

 compound or ternately divided alternate Ivs., the Ifts. 

 or segms. lanceolate and usually serrate or toothed : fls. 

 usually dioacious, the staminate fascicled in the axils 

 and short-pedicelled, the pistillate racemose on axil- 

 lary branchlets; stamens in sterile fl. 8-12-25, mostly 

 opposite the calyx-lobes; stamens sometimes present 

 in fertile fls. but few and perhaps alternate with calyx- 

 lobes; ovary 3-angled at top, with 3 styles which 

 are 2-parted: fr. a narrow ribbed many-seeded caps., 

 opening between the styles at the top. Species 2, 

 one in S. E. Eu. and W. Asia, and the other in Calif, 

 and Mex.; the former is in cult, abroad, requiring no 

 special treatment; prop, by seeds and division. 



The family Datiscaceae is placed near Begoniacese 

 and Cactacese. It comprises two other genera of tall 

 trees, neither of which is recorded as in cultivation; 

 these are Octomeles, with two species in the Malayan 

 archipelago, and TetrameleSj with one species in East 

 India to Java. 



cannabina, Linn. Three to 7 ft.: Ivs. odd-pinnate; 

 the Ifts. of 3 pairs, 2 in. long, deeply serrate, long- 

 acuminate: fls. small, yellow, the females in long and 

 open ra -ernes. Eu. Attractive bushy plants with grace- 

 ful foliage; both sexes should be grown, the female 

 being the finer for ornament. 



D. glom.erd.ta, Brew. & Wats., the American speciea, is apparently 

 not in cult.: 2J^-4 ft., stout, glabrous, the sts. clustered: Ivs. ter- 

 nately divided or lobed: staminate fls. in clusters of 3; pistil- 

 late fls. 4-7 together or scattered along short branchlets. It is 

 the durango-root of the Coast ranges and Sierra Nevada. 



L. H. B. 



1227. A triple form of Datura fastuosa, commonly 

 known as D. cornucopia. 



DATURA (Arabic name). Syn. Brugmdnsia. Sol- 

 anacese. THORN-APPLE. Several large plants cultivated 

 for their huge trumpet-like flowers, which have an 

 odor that is very pleasant to some persons. 



Annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, and trees: Ivs. 

 large, entire or wavy-toothed: fls. large, solitary, erect 

 or pendulous, mostly white, with more or less violet, 

 rarely red or yellow; calyx 5-toothed, sometimes 

 breaking apart near the base or splitting lengthwise; 

 corolla trumpet-shaped, with spreading 5-10-toothed 



limb; stamens 5, all perfect, slightly or not at all 

 exserted, the filaments slender; style long, the stigma 

 2-lobed: fr. a large 2-celled caps., mostly prickly or 

 spiny, usually dry and 4-valved at top but sometimes 

 fleshy and bursting irregularly, with large seeds. 

 Some 15 species, mostly strong-smelling, in the warmer 

 parts of the globe, some of them weeds. 



A few daturas are grown as flower-garden subjects, 

 or the shrubby kinds under glass or as tub specimens. 

 The most popular kind in northern gardens is com- 

 monly called D. cornucopia (Fig. 1227), which is espe- 

 cially interesting when its flowers develop two or three 

 well-defined trumpets, one within another. Some- 

 times, however, these double flowers are a confused 

 mass of petalage. Double and triple forms are likely 

 to occur in any of the species described below. The 

 horn-of-plenty has been especially popular in America 

 since about 1895, when it was found in South America 

 by an orchid collector of the United States Nursery 

 Company, and soon became widely distributed in 

 "yellow, white, blue and deep carmine," all double 

 forms. Daturas contain strong narcotics. Large doses 

 are poisonous, small doses medicinal. Separate prepara- 

 tions of Stramonium seed and leaves are commonly 

 sold in the drugstores. D. Stramonium (Fig. 1228) is 

 the thorn-apple or Jamestown weed, the latter name 

 being corrupted into jimson weed. Its foul, rank herb- 

 age and large spiny fruits are often seen in rubbish 

 heaps. At the first successful settlement in America 

 Jamestown, Virginia, 1607 it is said that the men ate 

 these thorn-apples with curious results. Capt. John 

 Smith's account of their mad antics is very enter- 

 taining. It has been conjectured that this same plant 

 was used by the priests at Delphi to produce oracular 

 ravings. The seeds of D. sanguinea are said to have 

 been used by Peruvian priests that were believed to 

 have prophetic power. 



Daturas are of easy culture. Some are treated as 

 tender annuals. In the North the woody species can be 

 grown outdoors in summer, and stored in cellars dur- 

 ing the winter; in the South and in southern Cali- 

 fornia they are almost everblooming. They are some- 

 times kept in cool conservatories the year round, in 

 which case they should be planted in the border, as 

 they rarely flower well in pots, their roots being large 

 and spreading and requiring a constant supply of 

 moisture. This method produces great quantities of 

 bloom in spring. After flowering, the plants should be 

 cut in to the main limbs. 



A. Fls. red. 



sanguinea, Ruiz & Pav. Tree-like shrub, 4-12 ft. 

 high: branches fragile, leafy at the apex: Ivs. clustered, 

 5-7 from the same point, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 almost 7 in. long, 2^-2% in. wide, pubescent on both 

 sides, shining green above, paler beneath, the lower Ivs. 

 wavy or angled, upper one entire; petioles 2*/ in. long, 

 channeled, pubescent: peduncles terminal; fls. pendu- 

 lous, brilliant orange-red, about 8 in. long; calyx 

 ovate, 5-angled, variegated, inflated. Peru. B.R. 1739 

 (as B. Ucolor). F.S. 18:1883. All the other species 

 are said to be easily raised from cuttings, but this is 

 very slow to take root. 



AA. Fls. yellow. 



chlorantha, Hook. Shrub, glabrous throughout: lys. 

 broadly ovate, almost triangular; margin wavy, with 

 short, rather sharp, very distinct teeth: peduncles axil- 

 lary, very short; fls. pendulous, yellow; calyx tubular, 

 with 5 nearly uniform, short, triangular teeth. Habitat 

 unknown. B.M. 5128. Gn. 46:429; 49, p. 379. 

 Datura "Golden Queen" is presumably a horticultural 

 variety of this species. While this species is horti- 

 culturally distinct by reason of its yellow fls., it is a 

 doubtful species botanically, being founded on a very 

 double garden form of unknown origin. In Vilmorin's 



