Thorn Apple

Datura stramonium

Apple-of-Peru Devil's-apple Jamestown Weed Jimsonweed Mad Apple Stinkweed Thornapple Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents

Thorn apple - an annual herb, growing up to 4 feet tall, with a foul odor. Unevenly toothed oval leaves are about 8 inches long. Showy, white, trumpet-shaped flowers (July-October) produce a spiny globular capsule that contains dark brown to black, kidney-shaped, flattened seeds.

Although it has antispasmodic, painkilling, and narcotic properties, thorn apple is a plant to be avoided. Every part of this weed, which is a member of the notorious nightshade family, is extremely poisonous and may cause death.

Thorn apple was once a popular asthma remedy. Asthma sufferers inhaled the smoke of the burning plant leaves or smoked the dried leaves for relief. Because of its dangerous side effects, thorn apple has been outlawed as an over-the-counter remedy, and it is rarely used in prescription medicines. The root and leaves were of thorn apple used externally in folk medicine to treat boils and cuts. The American physician and botanist Charles Millspaugh stated in his Medicinal Plants (1892) that thorn apple was employed ''as a narcotic, soothing medication" for epilepsy and neuralgia. He also noted that thorn apple was recommended as an ointment in burns and scalds.

PARTS USED

Leaves, flowering tops, seeds.

USES

At low doses, thorn apple is a common remedy for asthma, whooping cough, muscle spasm, and the symptoms of Parkinsonism. Thorn apple relaxes the muscles of the gastrointestinal, bronchial, and urinary tracts, and reduces digestive and mucous secretions. Like deadly nightshade, thorn apple may be applied externally to relieve rheumatic pains and neuralgia.

Other medical uses
Homeopathy.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Thorn apple grows in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Thorn apple is cultivated for medicinal use in Hungary, France, and Germany. The leaves and flowering tops are harvested in summer, and the seeds in early autumn when the capsules burst.

CONSTITUENTS

Thorn apple contains 0.2-0.45% tropane alkaloids (especially hyoscyamine and hyoscine), flavonoids, withanolides, coumarins, and tannins. The tropane alkaloids are similar to those found in deadly nightshade, acting to reduce secretions and relax smooth muscle.