Thread: plant ID please
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Old 28-09-2009, 07:49 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Jeff Layman[_2_] Jeff Layman[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,166
Default plant ID please

Mark wrote:
Sacha wrote:

On 2009-09-27 23:08:28 +0100, Mark said:

http://i34.tinypic.com/29fpafn.jpg
this plant is growing in my daughters new garden
i seem to remember seeing this on the local news as being poisonous.
can anyone positively ID it for me please.

thanks


Thornapple, Datura stramonium, I'd guess. Unless she eats it or sticks
her hands in her mouth having dug it up and burned it, it won't harm
her. But yes, it's poisonous but to be honest, so are many garden
plants. In fact, an extract of it has been shown to halt the growth of
some brain tumours. Apparently, it sometimes arrives in bird seed. A
neighbour of ours had it on his allotment about 2 years ago and asked
us to ID it and it's nothing like as rare as sensational newspaper
articles would like us to believe. Chuck it onto the bonfire before it
seeds itself around. Its ornamental cousins are popular Daturas known
as Angel's Trumpets.
You might find this site interesting
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants....ura+stramonium


Thanks for your help, not quite as deadly as the TV suggested
also found this, as you kindly gave it a name?
http://tinyurl.com/mx9ta7

we are all doomed! if you believe the TV and newspapers


If young children have access to the plant I would pull it up now. Children
are very sensitive to atropine-like alkaloids.

--
Jeff