Flower and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Gundaroo, New South Wales

Flower, fruiting body, and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, south coast, NSW

Mature fruiting body. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Gundaroo, New South Wales

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, New South Wales

Common Name

Common Thornapple, Purple-flowered Thornapple

Family

Solanaceae

Notes

Introduced annual forb to 1.2m tall. Leaves alternating up the stems, 7-36cm long, 40-200mm wide, flat, hairless or sparsely hairy, with coarsely and irregularly toothed or lobed edges. Flowers white or pale mauve, tubular, with five lobes, solitary on short stalks arising from the bases of the leaves. Fruiting bodies hairless, with many sharp spines. Noxious weed Vic.

Description and line drawing of fruiting body (Fig. 59d) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 586

Online fact sheet published by the South Australian Herbarium:   http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/lucid/Solanaceae/Solanaceae%20species/key/Australian%20Solanaceae%20species/Media/Html/Datura_stramonium.htm