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tommy750 Posts: 1049
4/20/2020
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Hiked a ways up Carrizo Canyon with my wife yesterday after parking on S2. On the way back NOT driving 30 mph down the dirt road, we noticed what I'm pretty sure is a nice Datura Inoxia AKA Toloache plant growing a few feet from the road. Renown for its mind altering effects, it contains a mix of chemicals still widely used by modern medicine including scopolamine (TransdernScop patches for sea sickness), atropine to speed up a slowing heart rate (found in every ICU crash cart in the world) and hyoscamine (old treatment for irritable Bowel Syndrome and stomach cramps). The concentration of these chemicals can vary greatly between plants due to soil and other growing conditions so experimenting with this plant is perilous. The above chemicals are all members of the anticholinergic drug class and a classic side effect is confusion and hallucinations. Before the hike I had just stumbled onto an old article on indigenous use of datura and its curious occurrence near archaeological sites located here: https://4fe6dae8-b225-4a05-a4bd-cedfd2c07440.filesusr.com/ugd/488b16_dfca29adc70643eba7be69b8d09af202.pdf Maybe a nice self isolation read. Enjoy. Tom
 Datura Inoxia by tomteske, on Flickr
Apparently everything is toxic especially the flowers and seeds.
 Datura Inoxia Flower by tomteske, on Flickr
Lots of color variation found in the flowers.
 Datura Inoxia Flowers2 by tomteske, on Flickr
The seed pod.
 Datura Inoxia Fruit by tomteske, on Flickr
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
4/21/2020
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Very nice! I just read about this in Desert Solitaire-Edward Abbey's book. Very interesting.
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ziphius Posts: 911
4/21/2020
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I have a few Datura plants in the garden, grown from seed. A great plant that attracts weird pollinators and Sphinx moth caterpillars. The plant itself sort of smells like peanut butter and the flowers are spectacular.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
4/21/2020
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ziphius wrote:
I have a few Datura plants in the garden, grown from seed. A great plant that attracts weird pollinators and Sphinx moth caterpillars. The plant itself sort of smells like peanut butter and the flowers are spectacular.
That's interesting. Do you see honey bees polinating the flowers? Read somewhere honey produced near datura plants can be problematic but they mentioned honey wasps whatever those are.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2624
4/21/2020
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Well, isn't tommy750 full of surprise botanical medicine information!...where did you say I could find those ICU carts, by the wind caves..?? 
I am getting kinda itchy to get out....maybe this weekend, especially now that gas prices are down, it will only cost me $30 in gas instead of $50
Thanks for the flower update.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
4/21/2020
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Honey bees definitely visit Datura flowers. I wonder what 100% pure 'Datura honey' would be like. 
tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
I have a few Datura plants in the garden, grown from seed. A great plant that attracts weird pollinators and Sphinx moth caterpillars. The plant itself sort of smells like peanut butter and the flowers are spectacular.
That's interesting. Do you see honey bees polinating the flowers? Read somewhere honey produced near datura plants can be problematic but they mentioned honey wasps whatever those are.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
4/21/2020
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dsefcik wrote:
Well, isn't tommy750 full of surprise botanical medicine information!...where did you say I could find those ICU carts, by the wind caves..??
I am getting kinda itchy to get out....maybe this weekend, especially now that gas prices are down, it will only cost me $30 in gas instead of $50
Thanks for the flower update.
Daren, you being a little glass vial aficionado AND international traveler AND new botanical chemical guy, I present the ATROPINE TRIFECTA! This little glass vial was found in an abandoned medical clinic crash cart deep in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. With an expiration date of 11/1991 (about 7 years after I found it), it still might pack as much punch as an ounce of datura honey
 Atropine by tomteske, on Flickr
And speaking of bees, actually found a hive under a boulder in the middle of a drainage not too far from said datura plant. Have not found a living hive in years around here so this was kind of nice to see even thought the bee traffic was light. You'll need to click on the image twice to see the clip.
 IMG_3772 by tomteske, on Flickr
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tekewin Posts: 371
4/23/2020
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I've seen dozens of those plants on the Coal Canyon trail off the 91 at Green River. I knew they were poisonous, but not that they were used for so many pharmaceuticals. Cool plants.
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Rocko1 Posts: 600
4/23/2020
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I was reading a few 'trip' reports regarding this plant. It does not sound like a fun time. Can last for days, user can't tell real people from hallucinations, high fever, etc. This is one heavy deliriant.
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rockhopper Posts: 668
4/25/2020
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The indigenous peoples used about every plant in their habitat for various uses. Teas made from herbs, roots, bark etc. I imagine the "Medicine Man" was the most respected and protected member of the tribe or clan.
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