Datura inoxia Mill., Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 21 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: mao man tuo luo

English: angel's trumpet, devil's trumpet, downy thorn-apple, Indian-apple, sacred datura, thorn apple

French: datura innocente

Spanish: cacaito, toloache

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Stout annual herb, tomentose with erect, glandular hairs.  Mature leaves broadly ovate, the lamina up to 20 cm long, almost entire, slightly sinuate, or irregularly lobed towards base.  Calyx 5-11 cm long, 3-6-lobed; lobes 13-20 mm long, sometimes incompletely separated.  Corolla 12-19 cm long, white with green veins; limb undulate, appearing 10-lobed, alternate lobes broadly triangular or ending in a slender point 5-10 mm long.  Stamens not exserted; anthers 8-10 mm long.  Style 10-14 cm long; stigma well below anthers.  Capsule globose or nearly so, 3-5 cm long, deflexed, spiny; spines numerous, slender, sharp, all about equal in length, to 10 mm long; persistent base of calyx to 20 mm long, very prominent.  Seeds 4-5 mm long, brown"  (George, 1982; pp. 193-194).

Habitat/ecology:  "Devils trumpet grows naturally in disturbed areas such as eroded sites, old fields, vacant lots, overgrazed pastures and rangeland, roadsides and abandoned roadbeds, and fencerows. Apparently, disturbance and reduced competition are required for the plant to become established and grow. A wide variety of well-drained soils on both igneous and sedimentary parent materials are suitable. In Puerto Rico, the species grows naturally in areas that receive from 750 to about 1000 mm of mean annual precipitation from near sea level to about 400 m. Devil's trumpet grows on sites up to 900 m in elevation in Nicaragua (Stevens and others 2001)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

In New Caledonia, "assez commun comme mauvaise herbe; jamais signalé comme cultivé" (MacKee, 1994; p. 130). In Australia, a weed of disturbed areas (George, 1982; pp. 193-194).

Propagation:  "The seeds are distributed by ants and some species of birds that are resistant to the chemicals they contain (Bonde 2001)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Native range:  "Native to Mexico, South America and the West Indies, but now widely distributed in warmer regions of the world" (George, 1982; pp. 193-194).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 130) Vouchers cited: Franc 855, Catala 134, MacKee 8232, MacKee 21047

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Near villages, roadsides, also cultivated; 300-600 m. Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Xinjiang.
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Francis, John K., ed. (2009)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced invasive	Ching-I Peng, ed. (2011) "A rarely collected weed".

Additional information:
Fact sheet from "Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories: thamnic descriptions" (PDF format).

Additional online information about Datura inoxia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Datura inoxia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Datura inoxia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Ching-I Peng, ed. 2011. Digital flora of Taiwan (online resource).

Francis, John K., ed. 2009. Wildland Shrubs of the United States and its Territories: Thamnic Descriptions General Technical Report IITF-WB-1 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry and Shrub Sciences Laboratory (online resource).

George, A. S., ed. 1982. Flora of Australia. Vol. 29, Solanaceae. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).