Sorrel & Salt
Sign In
Back to Compendium NewToxic
Botanical Name
Datura stramonium

Thorn Apple

Needs Review

Details

Thorn apple, also called jimsonweed, is a poisonous flowering plant of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, now a weed of warm and temperate regions. Wikipedia says all its parts hold the tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine, that it is used as a hallucinogen, and that overdoses are often fatal. Kynes gives it the element water, the sign Sagittarius, the planets Jupiter and Saturn, and Hades and Hecate as its deities. Her powers are banish, divination, dream work, hexes and protection. She has keywords written on paper, sprinkled with the flower essence and burned, and tells of its use at Delphi, in medieval witches' salves and as an Aztec and Navajo hallucinogen. Grieve heads her page with a warning of poison and lists leaves and seeds as the parts used. Every one of these sources records the hazard, which is set out in the safety notes.

Caution

Kynes says all parts of the plant are toxic and can be fatal if ingested, and that gloves should be worn to handle it. Wikipedia says all parts contain dangerous levels of tropane alkaloids, that the risk of fatal overdose is high, that the amount of toxin varies as much as twenty to one between plants, and that poisoning by smoking the plant has been reported. Grieve heads her page "Poison", says the whole plant is poisonous, the seeds being the most active, and that neither drying nor boiling destroys the poisonous properties. She adds that the dried leaves are not regarded as poisonous, which is her qualification and not an assurance.

References

#1#2#3

Correspondences

Elements
Water
Celestial Bodies
Jupiter, Saturn
Zodiac Signs
Sagittarius
Colours
No colours recorded.
Deities
Hades (Greek), Hecate (Greek; also called Hekate)

Folk Names

  • Apple of Peru
  • Devil's Apple
  • Devil's Cucumber
  • Devil's Trumpet
  • Devil's Weed
  • Hell's Bells
  • Jamestown Weed
  • Jimsonweed
  • Locoweed
  • Mad Apple
  • Moonflower
  • Stink Blade
  • Stinkweed
  • Thornapple

Categories

  • Banishing
  • Divination
  • Dream Work
  • Hex-Breaking
  • Protection

Substitutes

No substitutes recorded.

Forms

Flower

Kynes sells a flower essence, sprinkled on paper bearing written keywords that is then burned.

References

#4

Seed Toxic

Kynes sells the seeds. Grieve lists leaves and seeds as the parts used and says the seeds are the most active part.

Caution

Grieve says the whole plant is poisonous, the seeds being the most active, and that neither drying nor boiling destroys the poisonous properties. Kynes says all parts are toxic.

References

#5#6

References

Notes

  1. Grieve, "Thornapple."
  2. Kynes, Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical, under "Thorn Apple, Jimson Weed, Datura".
  3. Wikipedia, under "Datura stramonium."
  4. Kynes, Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical, under "Thorn Apple, Jimson Weed, Datura".
  5. Grieve, "Thornapple."
  6. Kynes, Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical, under "Thorn Apple, Jimson Weed, Datura".

Bibliography

  • Grieve, M. "Thornapple." A Modern Herbal. Accessed October 23, 2026. https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thorna12.html. Open the Source15
  • Kynes, Sandra. The Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical Plants: History, Folklore, Correspondences, and Spells. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2024. (EPUB.)246
  • Wikipedia, under "Datura stramonium." Accessed October 23, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datura_stramonium&oldid=1380661737. Open the Source3