Thorn apples

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Thorn apples
Common thorn apple (Datura stramonium)

Common thorn apple ( Datura stramonium )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Asterids
Euasterids I
Order : Nightshade (Solanales)
Family : Nightshade family (Solanaceae)
Genre : Thorn apples
Scientific name
Datura
L.

The thorn apples ( Datura ) are a genus of plants within the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The approximately 9 to 13 species worldwide are all highly poisonous.

description

Illustration from Blanco's Indian thorn apple ( Datura metel L. )
Habit, leaves and flowers of Datura discolor
Common thorn apple fruit ( Datura stramonium )
Large-flowered thorn apple seeds ( Datura inoxia )
Seeds of the common thorn apple ( Datura stramonium ) under the scanning electron microscope

Vegetative characteristics

Thorn apple species are annual or short-lived perennial, herbaceous plants that usually reach heights of 0.5 to 1.2 (0.2 to 2) m. The above-ground parts of the plant can be hairless, hairy or downy, and the trichomes can be of many different types, for example upright, prostrate, upward or downward, conical, simple, glandular or non-glandular. Often the hair on young parts of the plant is dense to very dense, while on older parts of the plant it subsides or even disappears completely. The dichotomous branching axes are mostly massive, only in the species Datura ceratocaula they are hollow.

The leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The leaf stalks are usually 5 to 10 (2 to 16) cm long. The simple leaf blades are ovate to ovate-lanceolate with a length of mostly 8 to 18 (5 to 30) cm with a mostly uneven to almost evenly shaped blade base and a pointed upper end. The leaf margin is entire, bent back, strongly or slightly wavy serrated to lobed.

Generative characteristics

The flowers are upright or oblique in the branches of the stem axes, with lengths of mostly 7 to 15 (5 to 25) mm, relatively short pedicels.

The hermaphrodite flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope . The cylindrical calyx is 2.5 to 14 (16) mm long and usually has five, rarely three to six calyx lobes or calyx teeth that are triangular, equally or unevenly shaped and pointed to pointed. The length of the calyx lobes or teeth is usually 6 to 12 mm, but can also be 13 to 35 mm, occasionally the separation of the calyx teeth is not clearly visible. One species, Datura ceratocaula , has a calyx that is split on one side so that it resembles a single bract . After the flowering phase, the calyx falls off, leaving a circular residue only at the base. The corolla , which opens in the evening hours, is roughly funnel-shaped or trumpet-shaped, in exceptional cases double or triple-filled. It is uniformly white, lavender or purple in color. Depending on the species, the petals are 4 to 6 (9.5) cm or (8) 15 to 21 cm long. The edge of the petals is five-lobed. In some species secondary corolla lobes occur, so that the flowers give a ten-lobed impression.

The stamens are usually located in the crown, the stamens are fixed in the lower half of the crown. Only there are the stamens covered with trichomes . The linear-elliptical anthers come in two different sizes, depending on the species, on the one hand 2 to 5 mm, on the other hand 5 to 12 (15) mm. Very long thread-like trichomes can be found along the opening line of the anthers. The ovary is conical in shape, partly below, and often four-chambered due to the formation of a false septum in the lower half. The ovary is often provided with different numbers of small, fleshy spines, which occasionally enlarge and stiffen in the fruit. The scar is bilobed, moist and warty.

With the exception of the species Datura ceratocaula , which does not develop soft berries that open up, the fruits of all thorn apple species are ovoid, elliptical or spherical four-chambered capsule fruits that stand upright or bent back on the plant. The capsule fruits jump on two, rarely four, flaps, which are sometimes arranged irregularly. The pericarp of the fruits is usually hairy and hairy and covered with up to 200 uniform, slender, with up to 50 differently shaped sharp spines, with weakly hairy bristles or numerous blunt humps. The length of the spines varies between 0.5 and 3.2 cm. In all species, the opposite of the fruit is the circular, bent-back remnant of the calyx. The fruits contain (25) 150 to 300 (500) disc-shaped to kidney-shaped seeds, usually 4 to 5 (2.5 to 6) mm long. They are black, yellow or brown, sometimes with white or yellowish elaiosomes .

Distribution, origin

Species of the genus Datura grow everywhere except in polar and subpolar climates. Some species come from Asia, others from America. In the case of species that are now cosmopolitan, such as Datura stramonium , the original origin is uncertain. The generic name Datura comes from Portuguese from an Indian language, cf. Hindi dhatura . The name is already recorded in Sanskrit as dhattūra .

Systematics

In the past, the genus also contained the angel's trumpets ( Brugmansia ) , which are now a separate genre . Based on phylogenetic studies, the remaining species can be divided into four sections:

Common thorn apple ( Datura stramonium )
Thorny thorn apple fruit ( Datura ferox )
Habitus, leaves and flowers of Datura wrightii

Not included in this investigation and possibly synonyms of the above types are:

  • Datura bernhardii C.E. Lundstr.
  • Datura kymatocarpa A.S.Barclay
  • Datura reburra A.S.Barclay

In 2013, the American botanist Robert Watson described another species, Datura arenicola , for which he proposed a new section, Discola . It occurs as a local endemic only in a small area on the Mexican Baja California peninsula .

The International Brugmansia & Datura Society , Inc. (IBADS / iBrugs) is the official International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) for the genus Datura . This role was first assigned to the American Brugmansia And Datura Society (ABADS) by the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) in 2002. In August 2010, ABADS officially changed its name to IBADS / iBrugs.

Intoxicant and ornamental plant

In Native American cultures, these plant species have both ceremonial and medicinal significance. In addition to its medical importance, Datura was and is used as an intoxicant to change consciousness . Zuni priests used the plant to contact ancestral spirits or to identify thieves. In the western industrialized nations, the use was at times fashionable among young consumers, especially in the 1970s, this is mainly attributed to the then popular works by Carlos Castaneda , in which the use is mentioned. Cases of poisoning still occurring today, however, affect the related angel's trumpets ( Brugmansia ) far more often . The role of the Datura drugs in the European “ witch's ointments ” and in the customs of the Sinti and Roma is judged controversially.

Today Datura spp. mainly used as ornamental plants because of their beautiful flowers . However, public authorities are increasingly advising against this use due to the toxicity of the plant. The plant is often confused with the angel's trumpets .

use

All Datura species are poisonous plants . They contain alkaloids , mainly hyoscyamine (atropine) and scopolamine . The (white) thorn apple is used to extract the alkaloids. It is rarely used as an anticonvulsant for bronchial asthma and whooping cough or as an expectorant for bronchitis , although it should always be noted that scientific medicine provides more effective and safer drugs for these diseases . In the Federal Gazette of February 1, 1990, Commission E of the former Federal Health Office published a (negative) monograph on Stramonium leaves and Stramonium seeds. It ruled that a therapeutic use of these drugs is not justifiable.

Effects

The consumption of the thorn apple can lead to very pronounced and hardly manageable real hallucinations of a typically threatening nature ( bad trip ). Many users report that the effects are extremely unpleasant compared to other drugs. It can last for several days at high doses. There is a high risk of accidents due to clouding of consciousness and loss of control.

The therapeutic range of the Datura is extremely narrow and the content and composition of the active ingredient vary greatly. The concentration can be between 0.2% and 0.4% and above, depending on the location, and can also fluctuate greatly within a single plant. This makes exact dosing impossible right away. Approaching the desired dosage is made more difficult by the fact that one is not aware of one's own condition due to the (real) hallucinogenic effect. Due to the high toxicity of the substances, severe symptoms of poisoning occur even at low doses, of which one is also not aware. Higher dosages are often fatal.

The plant is highly poisonous in all parts, especially due to the alkaloids scopolamine and hyoscyamine (see deadly nightshade ). When ( S ) -hyoscyamine is isolated from the plant, atropine is formed through racemization . The lethal dose of scopolamine is 50 mg; even lower doses can cause death from respiratory paralysis . In children, 4 to 5 g of the petals can be fatal.

Symptoms of poisoning and possible consequences: rapid pulse, reddening of the skin, dilated pupils, twitching muscles, dry mouth, thirst, restlessness, urge to speak, swallowing and speech disorders, drowsiness and / or hallucinations, confusion, visual and balance disorders, cardiac arrhythmias and comatose states, unconsciousness and death Respiratory paralysis.

Medicines Act

Medicines containing Datura species or their preparations require a prescription in Germany (as of 2016).

Astronym

The asteroid (1270) Datura is named after the thorn apples.

history

China and Japan

The flowers and seeds of a Datura species (曼陀罗) that cannot be determined with certainty were described in 1590 in the Chinese pharmacology book Bencao Gangmu as a remedy for epilepsy in small children and against aftereffects and as a component of anesthetic drugs . In the 1985 Chinese Pharmacopoeia , 0.2 to 0.6 g powder of Datura metel flowers are recommended internally for bronchial asthma , “cold and stomach pain ”, “wind, moisture, rheumatic pain” and epilepsy in small children.

Datura metel was the main ingredient in the narcotic that the Japanese doctor Hanaoka Seishū used in his operations.

Europe and the Mediterranean

The authors of the Arab Middle Ages described the effect of a "nux methel" ( interpreted as datura metel ) as numbing and harmful to the brain. It is hostile to the heart and a drachma taken from it is fatal.

The earliest reliable written evidence of knowledge of Datura species in Northern Europe can be found with the botanist-doctors of the 16th century. In his "New Kreuterbůch" published in 1543 Leonhart Fuchs listed a species among the nightshades that was called "in which land ſtramonia / vnnd Pomum ſpinosum". The description of the habitus of the plant added by Fuchs and its illustration indicate Datura metel . In the second edition of his Kreutterbuch 1546, Hieronymus Bock also added a chapter on "Stechöpffel or Paracoculi". The Nuremberg pharmacist Georg Oelinger had sent him "foreign seeds". Bock allowed them to germinate and described the developing plant as Datura metel , of which he also added a picture based on Fuchs. He knew that the plant was called "Melo Spinus", "Thorn apple" or "Paracoculi" in Venice. In terms of appearance, he classified them under the nightshade family. The Portuguese botanist Cristóbal Acosta described three Datura species in 1578, but they cannot be determined with certainty. Based on this, Joachim Camerarius differentiated two Datura species in 1586. A medical-therapeutic use of the datura was not considered until the 18th century.

In 1762, Anton von Störck , the personal physician of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa , examined the possible medical benefits of the poisonous herbs monkshood , henbane and thorn apple. He produced a watery extract from the whole thorn apple plant, tried it in increasing doses in self-experiments and then successfully treated patients suffering from "madness", "dizziness with madness and frenzy", "falling addiction with confusion and anger". In a patient with "gout", however, the administration of thorn apple extract made it worse. In the course of the 19th century, Störck's suggestions for therapy were taken up only hesitantly. To the psychiatric indications, the solution of asthma attacks by inhaling the smoke of thorn apple leaves and / or thorn apple seeds was added as the main indication. Wilhelm Griesinger recommended Datura as a remedy for acoustic hallucinations.

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Historical illustrations

literature

  • Ulrike Lindequist. Datura . In: Hager's Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice . Springer, 5th edition, Berlin etc. 1992, Volume 4. Drugs AD, pp. 1138-1154, ISBN 3-540-52688-9
  • Ulrike and Hans-Georg Preissel: Angel's Trumpets , Brugmansia and Datura. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-6614-3 .
  • Bert Marco Schuldes: Psychoactive Plants. Nachtschatten Verlag, ISBN 3-925817-64-6 .
  • Horst Wirth: Deadly nightshade and other medicinal nightshade plants. , A. Ziemsen Verlag, Lutherstadt Wittenberg 1965.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Armando T. Hunziker : The Genera of Solanaceae. ARG Gantner Verlag KG, Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001, ISBN 3-904144-77-4 , pp. 149-153.
  2. ^ ES Mace, CG Gebhardt, RN Lester: AFLP analysis of genetic relationships in the tribe Datureae (Solanaceae). In: TAG Theoretical and Applied Genetics. Volume 99, Numbers 3-4, August 1999, pp. 634-641. doi: 10.1007 / s001220051278
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Datura in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ Mario Luna-Cavazos, Robert Bye, Meijun Jiao (2009): The origin of Datura metel (Solanaceae): genetic and phylogenetic evidence. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 56: 263. doi: 10.1007 / s10722-008-9363-5
  5. ^ L. Haegi (1976): Taxonomic Account of Datura L. (Solanaceae) in Australia with a Note on Brugmansia Pers. Australian Journal of Botany 24: 415-435.
  6. ^ D. Robert A. Watson (2013): Datura arenicola (Solanaceae): A New Species in the New Section Discola from Baja California Sur, Mexico. Madroño 60 (3): 217-228. doi: 10.3120 / 0024-9637-60.3.217
  7. ↑ iBrugs Cultivar Registration Information. ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ibrugs.com
  8. ↑ Jochen Gartz, Alexander Ochse: Natural drugs and their use. Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 2012. ISBN 978-3-03788-224-5 . Section 4.2.1 The thorn apple (Datura sp.)
  9. ↑ Heinrich Marzell . Thorn apple . In: Concise dictionary of German superstition . Volume 8, Berlin 1937, Col. 359-361
  10. ↑ Negative monograph. Federal Gazette No. 22a of February 1, 1990 (digitized version)
  11. ^ Theodor Husemann and A. Husemann. Manual of toxicology. Following the second edition of AWM van Hasselt's Handleiding tot de vergiftleer . Reimer, Berlin 1862, Volume I, pp. 474–478 (digitized version )
  12. ↑ Ulrike Lindequist. Datura . In: Hager's Handbook of Pharmaceutical Practice . Springer, 5th edition, Berlin etc. 1992, Volume 4. Drugs AD, pp. 1138-1154
  13. ↑ Appendix 1 to the Medicines Prescription Ordinance , as of October 2016
  14. ↑ Quoted from Bencao Gangmu , Book 17, Chapter 23 (Annotated Reprint), PR China 1975, Volume II, p. 1211.
  15. ↑ Quoted from the Pharmacopoeia of the PR China 1985 . Volume I, p. 105.
  16. ↑ Hans Bangen: History of the drug therapy of schizophrenia. Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-927408-82-4 . Page 21
  17. ↑ George Arthur Stuart. Chinese Materia Medica. Vegetable Kindom. Shanghai 1911, p. 145 (digitized version)
  18. ^ Avicenna , 11th century: Canon , Vol. II. Revision by Andrea Alpago. Basel 1556, p. 275: Nux methel (digitized version )
  19. ↑ Pseudo-Serapion 13th century (print edition Venice 1497): Nux methel (digitized version )
  20. ↑ Abu Muhammad ibn al-Baitar . 13th century: Kitāb al-jāmiʿ li-mufradāt al-adwiya wa al-aghdhiya - Large compilation of the powers of the well-known simple healing and foodstuffs. Translation: Joseph Sontheimer. Hallberger, Stuttgart 1840, Volume I, p. 269: (digitized version)
  21. ↑ Leonhart Fuchs : New Kreütterbůch 1543, Chapter 265: From nightshade. Name ... Gender ... The third would be in French land Stramonia / and Pomum spinosum genent / that's why we also called the rough and stinging fruit halves / smoke or stinging potatoes ... (digitized version ) ; Figure (digitized version)
  22. ↑ Hieronymus Bock : Kreütter Bůch 1546, Part II, Chapter 128 (digitized version )
  23. ↑ Cristóbal Acosta : Tractado Delas Drogas, y medicinas de las Indias Orientales… Burgos 1578, pp. 85–92: Dela Datura (digitized version ) ( Trattato… delle droghe medicinali… Venice 1585 p. 66–71 Della Datura (digitized version ) )
  24. ↑ Camerarius : Kreuterbuch 1586, sheets 377r-378r (digitized version )
  25. ↑ Nicolas Lémery : Dictionnaire universel des drogues simples. , Paris 1699, p. 254 (digitized version) ; Translation. Complete material lexicon. Initially drafted in French, but now after the third edition, which has been enlarged by a large [...] edition, translated into high German / By Christoph Friedrich Richtern, [...]. Leipzig: Johann Friedrich Braun, 1721, Sp. 393 (digitized version)
  26. ↑ Albrecht von Haller (editor): Onomatologia medica completa or Medicinisches Lexicon which explains all names and artificial words which are peculiar to the science of medicine and the art of pharmacy clearly and completely [...]. Gaumische Handlung, Ulm / Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1755, Sp. 534 (digitized version )
  27. ↑ Anton von Störck : Treatise on the safe use and usability of the thorn apple, henbane and Eisenhütlein ... Zurich 1763 (digitized version) (The first Latin edition was published in Vienna in 1762)
  28. ^ Jean-Louis Alibert : Nouveaux éléments de thérapeutique et de matière médicale. Crapart, Paris 1803/4 (XII), Volume I, pp. 428-430: Pomme épineuse (digitized version )
  29. ↑ August Friedrich Hecker 's practical medicine theory. Revised and enriched with the latest discoveries by a practicing doctor . Camesius, Vienna, Volume I 1814, pp. 447–451: Nux vomica (digitized version )
  30. ↑ Mathieu Orfila : Traité des poisons tirés des règnes mineral, végetal et animal, ou toxilogie générale, considérée sous les rapports de la physiologie, de la pathologie et de la médecine légale . Crochard, Paris 1814–1815, Volume II, Part 1 (1815), pp. 240–245: Datura Stramonium (digitized version ) . - G. Krupp (translator): Textbook of toxicology. Edited by M. Orfila after the fifth ... edition from the French with independent additions . Vieweg and Son, Braunschweig, Volume II (1853), pp. 408–412: Daturin, Datura Stramonium (digitized version )
  31. ^ Jacques-Joseph Moreau  : Mémoire sur le traitement des hallucinations par le Datura stramonium . Paris 1841 (digitized version)
  32. ↑ Jonathan Pereira’s Handbook of Medicines Doctrine. From the point of view of the German Medicin edited by Rudolf Buchheim . Leopold Voß, Leipzig 1846-48, Volume II (1848), pp. 319–322: Datura Stramonium (digitized version )
  33. ↑ Alexander Willem Michiel van Hasselt . JB Henkel (translator): Handbook of poison theory for chemists, doctors, pharmacists and court officials . Vieweg, Braunschweig 1862, Part I, pp. 306–310: Datura (digitized version )
  34. ↑ August Husemann / Theodor Husemann : The plant substances in chemical, physiological, pharmacological and toxicological terms. For doctors, pharmacists, chemists and pharmacologists. Springer, Berlin 1871, pp. 430–455: Atropine / Daturine [(digital copy )]
  35. ^ Theodor Husemann : Handbook of the entire drug theory. Springer, Berlin 2nd ed. 1883. Volume II, pp. 1094-1096 (digitized version )
  36. ^ Hermann Hager : Commentary on the Pharmacopoeia Germanica . Springer, Berlin 1873–1874, Volume I, p. 670: Thorn apple herb extract (digitized version) Volume II P. 68: Thorn apple leaves (digitized version) p. 678: Thorn apple seeds (digitized version) P. 809: Thorn apple seed tincture (digitized version)

Web links

Commons : Thorn Apples ( Datura )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files