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DESCRIPTION:
Sacred thornapple is a native perennial in
dry, sandy, or gravelly soils of agricultural and noncropped
areas.
It is becoming more prevalent because of its resistance to herbicides.
This plant is toxic to all livestock. Seedlings germinate in May or June. Cotyledons (seed leaves) are narrowly
lance-shaped, pointy and often sparsely hairy. Crushed foliage has an unpleasant odor. The main stalk below
each cotyledon is hairy. The first leaf is oval shaped with smooth margins. Later leaves have margins that
are smooth, wavy, or wavy-toothed to lobed. Mature plants are 2 to 3 feet
(60 - 90 cm) tall, widely branched with gray-green foliage, and
have a fleshy taproot. Leaves are 1.5 to 5 inches (3.7 - 12.5
cm)
long, elliptical, asymmetrical at the base, and covered with short,
soft hairs and have an unpleasant scent. Flowers are 6 to 10 inches (15 - 25 cm) long, white
with a violet tinge, and funnel-shaped with 5 slender teeth. The
fruit are hard, roughly spherical, and densely covered with
short
spines.
Sacred datura is similar to a related annual species, jimsonweed.
Jimsonweed fruit are more oval and have thicker, more robust spines.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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