Figure 1 – Datura wrighti, the Devil’s Trumpet. Salem, MA, August 20, 2020. (c) DE Wolf 2020.

I have been having a wonderful time, in these golden dog days of August, photographing a flower a day. Using the app “plantnet,” I get to learn the names of ones that I am not familiar with. Today it is a the Devil’s Trumpet, Datura wrighti. Why the “devil’s trumpet?” What devilish work does it perform? As it turns out, all All Datura species are poisonous and potentially psychoactive. This is especially true of their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, psychosis, and even death if taken internally. HIstorically, they have been used not only as poisons, but also as hallucinogens. They have, as a result, been associated with witchcraft and various forms of sorcery ( perhaps there is a Salem connection, as we head towards what will be a pathetic Halloween), and native Americans have used them ritualistically. 

In Figure 1, I have captured one being visited by a honey bee. With this Devil background one starts to see them as ghostly specters against the dark leaves. Here they were tucked in a shady street corner.