Yes — all parts of datura are highly toxic and hallucinogenic, and poisonings can be fatal; it should never be eaten and is best admired only as a ritual or wild plant.

Why is datura associated with Lord Shiva?

Datura flowers and fruits are traditional offerings to Shiva, particularly during Mahashivratri, despite — and partly because of — the plant's potent, dangerous nature.

✿Solanaceae · Datura

Safed Dhatura / Thorn Apple

Datura metel

Also known as Devils Weed, Datura, Jimpson Weed

ShrubMedicinal

Habit: Shrub
Found in India: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka & more
Flowering: Throughout the year

Identify this plant with SASYA

How to identify Safed Dhatura

Identify Safed Dhatura by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.

Look for a shrub habit.
Confirm leaf arrangement: Alternate.
Confirm leaf type: Simple.
Confirm flower colour: White or purple.
Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
Use the leaf pattern: alternate leaf arrangement, simple leaves, toothed leaf margins, pinnate venation.
In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Datura metel
Genus: Datura
Family: Solanaceae
Habit: Shrub
Habitat: Degraded dry- and moist deciduous forests and wastelands
Habitat type: Forest, Wasteland
Native to: Old World tropics
Distribution: Paleotropics
Found in India: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Kerala, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Sikkim
Flowering & fruiting: Throughout the year
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf arrangement: AlternaterecordedOne leaf per node, arranged in a spiral or zigzag up the stem.“The leaves are simple, alternate, petiolate, and exhibit entire or deeply lobed margins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf type: SimplerecordedA single, undivided leaf blade.“The leaves are simple, alternate, petiolate, and exhibit entire or deeply lobed margins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf margin: LobedrecordedThe edge is divided into rounded or pointed sections that don't reach the midrib.“The leaves are simple, alternate, petiolate, and exhibit entire or deeply lobed margins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf surface: PubescentrecordedCovered in short, soft hairs.“It is slightly pubescent, with green to dark violet shoots and oval to broad oval leaves that are often dark violet as well.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Typical of the family

Venation: Pinnate

Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed Dhatura itself; the rest are typical of the Solanaceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower colour: White or purplerecorded
Fruit type: CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The seed capsule is covered with numerous conical warts or short, sparse spines.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Typical of the family

Flower symmetry: Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Inflorescence: Cyme
Fruit: Berry

Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed Dhatura itself; the rest are typical of the Solanaceae family — flowering plants only.

Local Names

Hindi: Safed dhatura सफ़ैद धतूरा,धतूरा dhatura
Bengali: ধুতুরা, ধুতরো
Tamil: ஊமத்தை Umattai, மாதுளம் Madulam, ஊமத்தை
Malayalam: Ummata, ഉമ്മം, ഉമ്മത്ത്
Sanskrit: Māndārava

Safed Dhatura in India

Datura is a striking but dangerous plant of Indian waste ground, long associated with Lord Shiva — Safed dhatura सफ़ैद धतूरा (Hindi), ஊமத்தை Umattai (Tamil), Ummata (Malayalam), ধুতুরা (Bengali). Datura metel is recorded across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Telangana, springing up on rubbish heaps, field edges and disturbed soil.

Uses

The trumpet flowers and spiny fruits are traditional offerings to Shiva, especially on Mahashivratri. The plant appears in traditional medicine, but this is strongly tempered by one fact: it is highly poisonous and hallucinogenic, so it should be regarded as ritual and ornamental only, never consumed.

How to Identify Safed Dhatura

A robust herb with large, soft, oval leaves and big upward-facing trumpet flowers in white or purple. The fruit is a rounded capsule covered in soft spines that splits to scatter many seeds. The whole plant has an unpleasant smell when bruised.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Thorn Apple called in different Indian languages?: Safed dhatura सफ़ैद धतूरा (Hindi); ஊமத்தை Umattai (Tamil); Ummata (Malayalam); ধুতুরা (Bengali); Māndārava (Sanskrit).
Is datura poisonous?: Yes — all parts of datura are highly toxic and hallucinogenic, and poisonings can be fatal; it should never be eaten and is best admired only as a ritual or wild plant.
Why is datura associated with Lord Shiva?: Datura flowers and fruits are traditional offerings to Shiva, particularly during Mahashivratri, despite — and partly because of — the plant's potent, dangerous nature.

Botanical family

Solanaceae

Nightshade/Tomato family

Safed Dhatura belongs to the Solanaceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

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Common plant problems

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Sources: GBIF — Datura metel (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Datura metel (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Datura metel (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)