Photo Blog      Photo Website

« Yikes!
Home Sweet Home! »

Thorn-Apple Wildflower

Thorn-Apple Wildflower 

This plant seems to have many names and uses.  Some call it Thorn-Apple, or Sacred Datura, or even Jimson Weed.  The entire plant is poisonous, but portions of the plant are used in modern pharmaceuticals for things like motion sickness medication and to counteract muscle spasms.  Not surprisingly, Native Americans were also aware of the many medicinal benefits of this plant. 

It is about the only thing blooming in Anza-Borrego right now, this plant will bloom most the summer.  We should be back in Alaska Saturday night, it will be a little while before flowers begin blooming there.

I used my truck to shade the flower from the bright, harsh sun light.  Below is the same flower in the direct sun for comparison - I think you can see the advantage of the shade.   

Thorn-Apple Wildflower

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under California, Anza-Borrego, Ron, Author, Photos, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Thorn-Apple Wildflower”

  1. Mark Says:
    April 26th, 2008 at 4:24 am

    I have some of this growing right outside my front door. My wife has called it moon flower also - since it seems to bloom at night. We haven’t tried any of its ‘properties’ yet though - I wonder how it is prepared?

  2. Ron Says:
    April 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am

    That is interesting Mark - that stuff most grow everywhere. I don’t think I want to experiment with this plant!

    Thanks,

    Ron

  3. jimson weed Says:
    June 19th, 2008 at 12:21 am

    […] portions of the plant are used in modern pharmaceuticals for things like motion sickness medicationhttp://www.my-photo-blog.com/thorn-apple-wildflowerjimsonweed - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online DictionaryDefinition of jimsonweed from the […]

  4. Michelle Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    I have this plant growing in my yard in Dayton, Nevada. I LOVE it. It smells like a tropical island outside. I dont know how it got on our street, but it grows everywhere. I have not seen in anywhere else. It is such an amazing plant

  5. Ron Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Michelle,

    Thanks for the comment!

    It is a great plant - and it seems to bloom all summer long - that is an extra treat! I found a great field blooming in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada last fall.

    Ron

  6. SOG knives Says:
    July 18th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    SOG knives…

    Interesting ideas… I wonder how the Hollywood media would portray this?…

Leave a Reply