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DATURA STRAMONIUM. 
Thorn Apple* 
Class PENTANDRiA.—Orffer Monogynia. 
Nat. Ord. Lurid^, Linn. Solaneje, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Cali/x a .perianth, monophyllous, tubular, 
5-cleft, deciduous. Corolla monopetalous, funnel-shaped, 
plaited, pentangular. Capsule 2.celled, 4-vaIved, seated on 
the base of the calyx. Seeds numerous, kidney-shaped. 
Spec. Char. Pericarps thorny, erect, ovate. Leaves ovate, 
smooth. 
There is every reason to believe that the Daturse, of which 
there are eight species, are all originally natives of the new world, 
from whence they have been introduced into England ; the Datura 
Stramonium however is the only species which is found to grow 
wild in this country ; the seeds are said to have been first intro- 
duced about the year 1597, when the plant was known under the 
name of the thorny apple of Peru. In some parts of America the 
ground is so over-run with this plant, and from the number of its 
seeds it is so difficult to be eradicated, that it has obtained the name 
of the Jamestown weed; and in many counties in this country, 
the thorn apple is found as a troublesome weed in almost every 
garden. It is an annual plant, and seems to delight in rich warm 
soils; hence it is usually found about dunghills, and in gardens 
which are highly manured. A species of the Datura, (Datura 
Arborea) has long been an ornament of our hot-houses, where the 
beauty of its large white trumpet-shaped tlower renders it truly 
conspicuous: it is a native of the warmer climates of America, 
requires the stove, and if heated to a sufficient degree, rises to 
the height of several feet, growing in an arborescent form. 
The thorn apple rises with an herbaceous stem to the height of 
two or three feet ; the root is white, branched, woody, and fibrous ; 
the stem is erect, strong, round, hollow, of a pale green colour,' 
branching luxuriantly, and having the branches widely extended on 
every side ; the leaves are of a dark green on their upper surface. 
* Fig. a. represents the corolla spread open to shew the stamens, b. The stigma, 
c. The styk. d. The germen- 
