DATURA STRAMONIUM | DHATURA

Datura stramonium (DATURA)

FAMILY :- SOLANACEAE

INDIAN NAME :- DHATURA

The trade names haters and stranomium are based On the scientific name of the plant. In old Indian literature, the plant is referred as”Shivashekhara”, because the flower is believed to be associated with lord Shiva.

DESCRIPTION : - a bushy plant up to about 1m high; leaves large, ovate, toothed. Flowers very large, white. Fruit ovoid, deeply divided into four, covered with long or short prickles.

Distribution : - this plant occurs in temperate Himalayas up to 2500m and in highly regions of central and southern India

Properties :-the drug consists of dried leaves, flowering tops and seeds of the plant the chief active principle in the leaves is hyoscyamine; the drug is , therefore ,useful in the same manner as belladonna or hyoscyamus. The drug is useful in bronchitis or asthma, And controls salivation in mouth; it is antispasmodic and narcotic. The inhalation of smoke from the burning leaves in also good for relieving asthma .the seeds also contain hyoscyamine and have similar properties as the leaves.

Other species

Two other species of the genus datura are useful in medicine.D.Metel L. occurs throughout India in waste places. Its flower are white to yellowish, often violet coloured out side. Fruit have short pickles. In cultivation, the flowers often have double corolla n whorls.

a poultice of its leaves checks inflammation of breasts caused by excessive formation of milk. The leaves and seeds have similar properties as stamonium.

D.Innoxa mill is an exotic plant , but has run wild in several parts of India. The Corolla pf its flowers are 10-angled (not 5-angled as in D.metel). Fruits have very slender prickles and brown seeds. Its leaves have similar properties as stramonium. Expansion of this plant through cultivation has been recommended.