Datura ferox L.

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Maleme Dam camp

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Synonyms:	Stramonium ferox Boccone
Common names:	Large thorn apple (English)
Frequency:
Status:	Introduced
Description:	Erect, sometimes dichotomously branched annual herb, 30-120 cm. Leaves alternate, unpleasantly scented when crushed, ovate to rhombic-ovate, up to 16 × 12 cm, thinly textured, almost hairless to pubescent, particularly near the base; base often decurrent into the petiole; margin with almost lobe-sized triangular teeth. Flowers solitary in the forks of the branches or axillary. Calyx long and tube-like, up to 3.5 cm long, 5-angled with ovate to triangular-lanceolate unequal apical lobes, 2.5-7 mm long. Corolla white to pale yellowish, rarely pale blue, 4-7 cm long, slightly 5-lobed with narrow acuminate tips. Fruit erect, ovoid-ellipsoid, up to 8 × 6 cm (including spines), covered in robust unequal, narrowly conical spines, up to 2.5 cm long, purple-green to brownish when ripe, regularly dehiscent. All parts of the plant are poisonous.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	ferox: very prickly, ferocious (perhaps referring to the large spines on the fruit)
Habitat:	A weed of cultivated and disturbed areas.
Flowering time:	Oct - Mar
Worldwide distribution:	Native to southern North America. Now an almost cosmopolitan weed.
Zimbabwe distribution:	W,C,E,S
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects (whose larvae eat this species):
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Saturday 29 March 2008
Literature:	Maroyi, A. (2006). Preliminary checklist of introduced and naturalized plants in Zimbabwe. Kirkia 18(2) Page 243.

Other sources of information about Datura ferox:

Flora of Zimbabwe: native/naturalised Datura ferox page
African Plant Database: Datura ferox
Biodiversity Explorer (Biodiversity of southern Africa): Datura ferox
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Datura ferox
ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Datura ferox
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Datura ferox
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Datura ferox
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Datura ferox
JSTOR Plant Science: Datura ferox
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Datura ferox
Tropicos: Datura ferox
West African Plants database: Datura ferox