380 AMERICAN MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 
JIMSON WEED. 
Datura siramonium L. 
Pharmacopeial name.—Stramonium. 
Other common names.—Jamestown weed (from which the name ‘‘jimson weed ” is de- 
rived), Jamestown lily, thorn apple, devil’sapple, mad-apple, apple of Peru, stinkweed, 
stinkwort, ° devil’s-trum- 
pet, fireweed, dewtry. 
Habitat andrange.—This 
is &@ very common weed 
in fields and waste places 
almost everywhere in the 
United States except in 
the North and West. It 
is widely scattered in 
nearly all warm countries. 
Description.—J imson 
weed is an ill-scented, 
poisonous annual belong- 
ing to the nightshade fam- 
ily(Solanacez). Its stout, 
yellowish-green stems are 
about 2 to 5 feet high, 
much forked, and leafy 
with large, thin, wavy- 
toothed leaves. The 
leaves are from 3 to 8 
inches long, thin, smooth, 
pointed at the top and 
usually narrowed at the 
base, somewhat lobed or 
irregularly toothed and 
waved, veiny, the upper 
surface dark green, while 
the lower surface isa light- 
ergreen. The flowersare 
large (about 3 inches in 
length), white, funnel 
shaped, rather showy, and with a pronounced odor. Jimson weed is in flower from 
about May to September, and the seed pods which follow are dry, oval, prickly cap- 
sules, about as large as a horse-chestnut, which upon ripening burst open into four 
valves containing numerous black, wrinkled, kidney-shaped seeds, which are 
poisonous. (Fig. 22.) 
Collection, prices, and uses.—The leaves of the jimson weed, yielding, when assayed 
by the United States Pharmacopeceia process, not less than 0.35 per cent of its alkaloids, 
are official under the name “‘Stramonium.’’ They are collected at the time jimson 
weed is in flower, the entire plant being cut or pulled up and the leaves stripped and 
carefully dried in the shade. They have an unpleasant, narcotic odor and a bitter, 
nauseous taste. Drying diminishes the disagreeable odor. The collector may receive 
from 2 to 5 cents a pound for the leaves. 
The leaves, which are poisonous, cause dilation of the pupil of the eye and also have 
narcotic, antispasmodic, anodyne, and diuretic properties. In asthma they are fre- 
quently employed in the form of cigarettes, which are smoked, or the fumes are 
inhaled. 
The seeds are also used in medicine. ' 
219 
Fig. 22._Jimson weed (Datura stramonium), leaves, flowers, and 
capsules. 
