Name: Datura ordinary – Datura zvichaniy (veterinary practice)
Datura ordinary – datura stromonium l.
Folk names: stinky dope, hemlock, water drunk, glomusha, bad drunk, divderevo, dope-grass, crazy grass.
Botanical characteristic. Solanaceae family. An annual herbaceous plant 60-120 cm high. The root is branched, strongly fibrous, fusiform. Stems erect, forked-branched, glabrous, hollow inside. The leaves are alternate, short-petiolate, large, ovate, notched-toothed, up to 15 cm long, up to 10 cm wide. The flowers are white, large, on short pedicels, located in the axils of the stem and branches. Blooms from June to autumn, bears fruit from July (Fig. 19).
Spreading. It is found mainly in approximately the southern regions of the European part of the USSR, the Baltic states, Central Asia, the Crimea and the Caucasus, Altai. Cultivated in Ukraine and in the Krasnodar Territory. Indian dope is also cultivated there. It grows on fallows near housing, in garbage places, along roads, in gardens and orchards, in fields, borders and pastures.
Medicinal raw materials. Leaves are collected during flowering in the afternoon in good sunny weather (wet leaves darken quickly) and quickly dried in the shade under a canopy, in attics or in well-ventilated rooms, spreading them out in a thin layer and periodically turning over. Stored for 2 years in a dry, well-ventilated room on racks separately from other plants, under lock and key (group B).
When harvesting dope, you will need to be careful: do not touch your face, eyes with your hands, wash your hands thoroughly after work.
The plant is poisonous!
Chemical composition. All organs of the plant contain the alkaloids hyoscyamine (atropine), scopolamine, as well as tannins and protein substances, essential oil, etc.
Pharmacological properties and Application. Preparations obtained from Datura leaves are used as an analgesic and antispasmodic. The mechanism of action, doses, forms of application, indications, toxicity are the same as those of belladonna.