datura

[duh-toor-uh, -tyoor-uh]

noun

1. any of several plants belonging to the genus Datura, of the nightshade family, including some species grown as ornamentals and usually having funnel-shaped flowers and prickly pods: the leaves and seeds are the source of hallucinogenic alkaloids.

datura

/ dəˈtjʊərə /

noun

1. any of various chiefly Indian solanaceous plants of the genus Datura , such as the moonflower and thorn apple, having large trumpet-shaped flowers, prickly pods, and narcotic properties

Other Word Forms

• daturic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of datura¹

1655–65; < New Latin < Hindi dhatūra jimson weed < Sanskrit dhattūra

Word History and Origins

Origin of datura¹

C16: from New Latin, from Hindi dhatūra jimson weed, from Sanskrit dhattūra

Example Sentences

In the chapter titled “Swami and the Psychedelics,” Capt. Robert “Rio” Hahn travels to Nepal to investigate datura, described as “one of the most mysterious and frighteningly powerful sacred plants.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Actually, datura grows naturally in the U.S. and was well known to early American colonists.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Wilser quotes Mr. Hahn, almost in passing, as saying that the titular swami “regularly takes at least eight daily doses of Datura in the form of the betel chew.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But betel chew—a mixture of areca nuts, betel leaves and slaked lime—is entirely different from datura.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It has stimulant and narcotic effects, while datura is a poison that induces delirium and hallucinations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal