Poison or Cure???

It's been a while since my last post to this blog. With the Eid festivities luncheon & 'open houses' invitations by spouse's friends coupled with the girls' school's examinations, its been a really hectic month of October 2008. Furthermore, with all the activities, I have not been the best of health for the last few weeks...oooohhhh :(

By the way, have you heard of the Angel's Trumpet, Devil's Trumpet, Downy Thorn Apple, Metel? All of the mentioned names referred to the same plant, the Datura Metel var Fastuosa or locally known in Malay as the Pokok Kecubung.

I obtained the seeds of this plant while on holiday in Penang, Malaysia a few years ago while visiting the state's herb garden, mainly attracted by its beautiful white, with a tinge of lavender trumpet-like flowers and unique thorny fruit.

Native to China, India and South-east Asia countries, the Datura Metel is extremely poisonous but surprisingly, the plant is used traditionally in Chinese medicine.




The shrub-like perennial herb/plant consists of ebony black stems, each stem holds a large angular dark-green leaves similar in shape to that of the eggplant leaves. The large tubular flowers normally have a double or triple corolla, with each corolla having a deep purple exterior and white or off-white interior. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (having both male & female organs) and pollination is usually done by insects. What I noticed about this plant that I have in the container pot, there's lots of ants seems to be attracted not only to the flowers but to the plant as a whole.

The thorny like fruits which holds the seeds are almost rounded, approximately around 2.5cm (1 inch) diameter. Upon ripen, the matured fruits will automatically 'burst' open thus dispersing the seeds.



The dry flower, particularly the violet coloured, if rolled and used like a cigar is believed to relieve the asthma or wheezing-like symptoms but it should only be used under the guidance and supervision of a qualified medical practitioner.

The plant as a whole is extremely toxic if digested in any quantity, symptoms like hallucinations, headaches, flushed skin and possibly convulsions or even coma. Accidentally (or intentionally) indigestion even a single leaf could lead to severe side effects..so strict PRECAUTION should be taken to avoid planting the Datura Metel plants near or households with children, they might just get enchanted & attracted with the beautiful flowers. The best way, is to totally avoid planting this extremely poisonous plant in the garden.