Devil’s trumpet (Datura metel) is a highly toxic annual species. Devil’s trumpet ingestion can cause headaches, hallucinations, coma, and death. In spite of its toxicity, it is sometimes grown as an ornamental flower
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Datura metel is a shrub-like annual (zone 5–7) or short-lived, shrubby perennial (zone 8–10), commonly known in Europe as Indian thornapple, Hindu Datura, or metel and in the United States as devil’s trumpet or angel’s trumpet. Datura metel is naturalised in all the warmer countries of the world. It is found notably in India, where it is known by the ancient, Sanskrit-derived, Hindi name dhatūra (धतूरा), from which the genus name Datura is derived.
The plant is cultivated worldwide, both as an ornamental and for its medicinal properties, the latter being due to its tropane alkaloid content. Like its hardier and smaller-flowered relative Datura stramonium, it is now of widespread occurrence, although showing a preference for warmer, humid climates.
The plant is an annual or short-lived shrubby perennial herb. The roots are a branched tap root, and are not fleshy like roots found in perennial species such as Datura innoxia and Datura wrightii. The species can grow up to 6 ft (1.8 m) high. The stems are hollow, green or purple-black, somewhat woody, and have a strong odour. It is slightly pubescent, with green to dark violet shoots and oval to broad oval leaves that are often dark violet as well. The leaves are simple, alternate, petiolate, and exhibit entire or deeply lobed margins.
The pleasantly-scented 6–8 in (15–20 cm) flowers are immensely varied, and can be single or double. Corolla colour can range from white to cream, yellow, red, and violet. The seed capsule is covered with numerous conical warts or short, sparse spines. The fruits break up irregularly at maturity by not dehiscing in four equal valves like those of other Datura species. Seeds are endospermous.
D. metel was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, but few botanically correct illustrations were made until after the New World was settled. The original home of the plant, although long conjectured to have been India, is now known to have been somewhere in the Americas, probably the Greater Antilles. As late as 1992 it was still being claimed that the plant was “…native probably to the mountainous regions of Pakistan or Afghanistan westward…”.
While there now remains no doubt that the species originated in the New World, evidence is mounting that it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent – whether by human agency or some chance natural event is not known – at a date no later than the 4th century CE. This precedes the first arrival of European explorers in the Americas.
A wild form of D. metel as a distinct species is unknown. The species, as currently described, is essentially a collection of ancient cultivars likely attributable to pre-Columbian horticultural practices.
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All parts of Datura plants contain dangerous levels of highly poisonous tropane alkaloids Meteloidine and its Angelate ester and Datumetine and may be fatal if ingested by humans or other animals, including livestock and pets. In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell, or cultivate Datura plants.
Datura metel may be toxic if ingested in a tiny quantity, symptomatically expressed as flushed skin, headaches, hallucinations, and possibly convulsions or even a coma. The principal toxic elements are tropane alkaloids. Ingesting even a single leaf can lead to severe side effects.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight and Soil
Planting Datura requires full sun coupled with moist, rich, well-drained soil. As a tropical species, they thrive in the warmer months and don’t like frost or winter months.
It needs regular moisture, preferably 50% or higher. It also prefers temperatures around 50° or 60° degrees Fahrenheit.
Watering
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Water regularly, but not too much, in times of high temperature. Spread mulch out at the foot of shrubs over winter.
For potted datura, water must be provided as soon as the surface soil is dry.
Planting Instructions
It is best to plant your datura trumpet vine in spring in a blend of earth, soil mix and soil conditioner.
Find a place in your garden that is protected from wind, but gets a lot of sun.
It’s possible to sow in a sheltered place starting in March and put in place in May.
If you live in an area where winter freezing is very cold (lower than 23°F or -5°C), consider growing your Datura in a lean-in or transfer them during the coldest months to a spot where it doesn’t freeze.
Pruning
- Pruning datura is best at the beginning of spring.
- Datura can bear pruning well, so it can be quite drastic.
Take note to protect your hands when pruning this shrub, because its leaves and stems contain high levels of alkaloids that are very poisonous.
Ephemeral Impressions
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Propagation
It is really simple to propagate datura through cuttings, it’s the easiest and fastest technique.
- Summer, from May to July, is when to prepare datura cuttings.
- Select cuttings about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) long.
- Remove lower leaves, keeping only the topmost 1 or 2 pairs at the tip.
- It is possible to dip the cuttings in powdered rooting agents.
- Plant your cuttings in nursery pots filled with cutting soil mix.
- Ensure the soil stays reasonably moist, place it in a warm place with light but not direct sun.
Make sure the air stays moist around your cuttings. Either wrap a clear sac around the nursery pots to lock the moisture in (like a greenhouse) or increase ambient air moisture.
Overwintering
Datura outdoors
In areas where it freezes, there’s no chance of your Datura surviving outdoors. It might take a night or two of very light frost, but cold temperatures for days on end will kill it.
- When the temperature drops, you can try to wrap your Datura up in hay and bubble plastic or burlap.
- This will help you gain a few degree’s worth of survival.
If it gets any colder than 40°F (5°C), however, your best chance is to prune your datura short (under a foot or 30 cm) and dig it out to a pail or temporary pot.
- Store the plant in a place where there’s not too much light and where temperatures hover around the 50s or 60s °F (10-15°C).
- Water only once a month, abundantly but make sure it drains well.
- Leaves will die off, but in Spring it will grow back after you plant it in the ground again.
Potted Datura in winter
If your datura is already in a pot, simply prune it to reduce its size and bring it indoors. Do this at the end of Fall, but before it freezes.
The ideal storage for it is a garage or room that only gets a little light and where temperatures stay around 55°C (12-13°C).
- Keep the plant in its normal pot, unless you plan on repotting it. You can repot every two or three years to replenish soil nutrients.
- Water monthly, making sure any excess water drains out well from the bottom.
When Spring is there, wait for any risk of frost to have subsided. Then only can you bring your Datura out.
Pests and Diseases
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Datura avoids problems with large herbivores thanks to its poisonous leaves, but insects and diseases still attack it.
- Fungal diseases such as Septoria will spot the leaves. All datura species are among the septoria fungus host plants.
- Leaf spots that show rings inside them are most certainly due to Alternaria tenuissima, another leaf spot fungus.
- A few other fungi are responsible for root rot in this plant, such as Pythium (see a case where Pythium results in diseased Sunpatiens), Thielaviopsis and Phytoptora.
Viral diseases (sometimes spread by insects) may also contaminate Datura :
- mosaic viruses and others may result in leaves folding up and wilting.
Insects may also be to blame for spots and disease:
- Aphids are quite recognizable and can be seen with the naked eye. In addition to the damage they inflict, they also spread viral plant diseases.
- Whitefly requires a magnifying glass but can also be dealt with easily. They don’t usually spread diseases.
- Other insects that typically attack plants of the nightshade family: the tomato hornworm and Sphinx moth caterpillars. You can control these caterpillars naturally.
III. Uses and Benefits
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- Ornamental uses
Growing a devil’s trumpet in partial shade reduces its number of flowers, so it performs best in sunny flower and cottage gardens. This shrubby, tender perennial works best as a specimen plant due to its spreading growth habit. It produces upright, trumpet-shaped flowers that open in the evening, lasting till the following day. Its extended blooming period throughout the summer adds to its popularity in flower gardens.
- Medicinal use
Datura metel is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is called yáng jīn huā (洋金花). However, the ingestion of D. metel in any form is dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution. According to Drug & Cosmetic Act 1940 & Rule 1995, Datura metel is banned in India except for use in Ayurvedic medicine.
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