A poisonous plant that can cause hallucinations, respiratory depression and even death has been discovered in amongst sunflowers in a field in Newchurch.
The naturally growing Datura plant – also known as thornapple, jimsonweed and devil’s trumpet – is toxic to humans and can be psychoactive, with the white flowers and seeds of the plant leading to all sorts of medical complications including death if consumed internally.
The plant produces white flowers and has spikey balls that contain seeds.
Eagle-eyed Charley James spotted the Dantua whilst visiting the sunflower field near The Garlic Farm in Newchurch at the weekend.
The field is private land and signs have been erected warning locals not to trespass onto the land, so those visiting the sunflowers do so at their own risk.
The Garlic Farm say they have been made aware of the discovery and hope that people will be sensible and not randomly touch or consume the many toxic plants, flowers and mushrooms growing wild in amongst the countryside. Staff are reinforcing the message about not entering the field with additional signage being erected today to warn that some plants may be dangerous.
The Garlic Farm offers walks and tours around their land for customers, but unfortunately, groups of people have been entering the field and getting in amongst the crop.
Datura intoxication typically produces delirium, hallucination, hyperthermia, tachycardia, bizarre behaviour, urinary retention and amnesia. The onset of symptoms generally occurs around 30 to 60 minutes after ingesting the herb. These symptoms generally last from 24 to 48 hours, but have been reported in some cases to last as long as 2 weeks.
You just know there will be a group of young adults thinking these will be an easy fix & free ‘drug’ & they will be stupid enough to go try. Just gotta hope that I’m wrong or this could be a very dangerous ride.
It’s a wild flower and some are poisonous thats a fact of life, even the humble Foxglove is extremely poisonous. Follow the country code if you don’t know what something is then leave well alone and be sure to teach your kids the same. Enjoy the sunflowers while they are flowering it’s a great sight and worth the visit and walk around the nature trail.
All they have to do is pull it up and burn it. It has been growing there for YEARS
Common plant on a farm in Shanklin along the footpath
The last paragraph does little to bring home the dangers of this plant to potentially curious drug takers. Giving an ID of the plant and its location is asking for trouble and could lead to dire consequences. This was posted on the ‘Green Island Veg Economy’ page. I took the post down to stop potential harm to anyone stupid enough to experiment with it (only last night). Please do the same and take the article down.
chisz