Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Moonflowers

Following up on last night's post, I thought I'd post a couple of interesting shots of the "good" Datura, to illustrate the significant differences between the two ... this is the one we have been planting for years and it has clearly become our favorite, even if it does have weedy tendencies.

Datura inoxia or meteloides is another of the 'Angel's Trumpet' (or 'Devil's Trumpet' if you prefer), but most commonly known as 'Moonflower.' These two shots show some of the many permutations the nearly open buds can take ... they usually look like the star shaped one in the first picture, but sometimes assume other forms, such as in the second shot (which is another one that is growing in the cracks of the sidewalk).

The same sorts of caveats and dire weediness warnings I gave last night apply to this species as well, though it's by far the more attractive of the two and is a lot more tolerable in the garden if it gets a bit out of hand.

And, like D. stramonium, the same warnings about toxicity apply ... and if you're curious about what can happen if they're ingested, check out this link Olivia sent me last year. Datura Poisoning By Hamburger.. that should scare you off sufficiently!

7 comments:

olivia said...

Those flowers are so beautiful ... they look like folded white linen napkins.

Ah, yes ... the datura hamburgers! LOL, what the heck kind of seasoning did she think it was ...

Larry Kollar said...

That second one is sort of roseate, no? I like the star-shaped one, that's kind of cool.

Knucklehead said...

IVG,
I remember going out to the dances at Memorial Hall, & not leaving home without having one of those handkerchiefs, in the breast pocket of my stylish suit.
Spit-shined wellingtons & ruby cufflinks.
Very well taken shot.
I keep being surprised by the flowers you take care of.
Felicitations

olivia said...

That sounds very spiffy Head!

katiebird said...

They do look like they're made of linen. So white and fluffy.

I totally love them and Tuesday's too.

Thanks, IVG for sharing these!

I'm trying to get out and about again. I've been very bad and spending too much time on the couch in the evenings.

-kb

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi there everyone, glad you liked these shots ... now I need to get serious and get out to shoot some of the fully open flowers (before Olivia beats me to it!)

I totally agree w/the linen, napkin, handkerchief analogies, as I had that same general image in mind when I took these. I'm glad that came across.

Somehow I chuckle when I think of K-Head in spit shined shoes... but the ruby cufflinks, that I can see! I love rubies (wish I had one), and oddly enough they're my birthstone!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Oops forgot... KB if you or FAR or anyone would like seeds for these, just let me know ... as I've profiled in the previous post, we get lots of them! So if you're corageous enough to tackle them, I'd be happy to oblige ... all caveats DO apply though! lol