Jimson Weed: dark green mounds along the shoulder of a desert highway |
General: Jimson Weed (Datura wrightii), or Datura, is a rounded,
dark green shrub-like perennial forb. The leaves are large and dark
green, the flowers are large, white trumpets, and the fruit is a thorny
apple. The flowers which are pollinated by moths and beetles, open in the afternoon and evening, then wilt the following day.
Jimson Weed is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage
Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave
Desert Scrub) life zones. Watch for it along roadsides.
Jimson Weed is toxic -- don't mess with it.
Family: Nightshade (Solenaceae).
Other Names: Datura, thorn-apple, sacred datura. |
Flowers large, trumpet shaped |
Plant Form: Rounded shrub.
Height: Usually about 2-3 feet high.
Stems: Many branched branches.
Leaves: Oval, usually simple, to about 7 inches long and 4 inches wide.
Flowers: Blooms spring to fall. Inflorescence: solitary flowers from branch forks. Flowers large, trumpet shaped.
Seeds: Fruit a hard, spiky, apple-sized capsule. Seeds inside the capsule look a bit like stacked corn kernels. |
Developing fruit |
Habitat: Sand and gravel areas, roadsides where shrubs are graded away.
Elevation: Below about 7,000 ft.
Distribution: California to Utah, and south into Mexico.
Comments: Jimson Weed is toxic -- don't mess with it. |