Species
+

Datura metel L.

Chamisco amarillo, Chamisco morado (ES); Garden Datura, Datura, Fireweed

Climate known 65 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Datura metel is a shrub-like annual or short-lived, shrubby perennial, commonly known in Europe as Indian thornapple, Hindu datura, or metel and in the United States as devil's trumpet or angel's trumpet. Datura metel is naturalised in all the warmer countries of the world. It is found notably in India, where it is known by the ancient, Sanskrit-derived, Hindi name dhatūra (धतूरा), from which the genus name Datura is derived.

Text from Wikipedia, “Datura metel”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Datura

Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets or mad apple. Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed and hell's bells. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Datura”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Solanaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast
Wild records
60 in range· 30 open

At a glance

Warmest month
31°C
May, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1292mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Sep 237 mm (CHELSA)
Light
25–42DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1292 mm a year, wettest September at 237 mm, driest March at 26 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 14.4 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Brugmansia chlorantha (Hook.) Melliss; Brugmansia suaveolens var. flore-albo-pleno Reider; Brugmansia waymanii Paxton; Datura aegyptiaca Vis.; Datura alba F.Muell. and 45 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to October in the northern hemisphere (June to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (974 mm of 1292 mm) falls in June to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 25.7 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1292 mm a year, wettest September at 237 mm, driest March at 26 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1292 mm a year at the habitat, 974 mm of it June to October. Wettest month September at 237 mm, driest March at 26 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 900 mm to 2060 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 48).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 14.4 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 14.4 °C, the absolute minimum 11.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.0 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 18.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 10.4 °C to 22.2 °C), warmest day 31.1 °C in May (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 14.4 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 26 °C in Jan to 31 °C in May; mean night from 19 °C in Jan to 24 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1292 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 52 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 11.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.0 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°45°40.0° 99th-percentile day (undated)11.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 25–42RH 58–66 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 52 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C26 / 22–2928 / 24–3030 / 26–3231 / 28–3431 / 28–3530 / 26–3329 / 25–3329 / 25–3329 / 25–3228 / 24–3127 / 23–3027 / 22–29
Night °C19 / 10–2220 / 11–2321 / 12–2422 / 14–2524 / 16–2624 / 17–2624 / 16–2524 / 16–2623 / 16–2522 / 14–2521 / 12–2419 / 11–23
Rain mm38 / 5–10231 / 6–7826 / 4–4633 / 5–5984 / 42–125205 / 147–300185 / 137–334195 / 155–339237 / 153–415152 / 64–30059 / 14–18547 / 5–136
DLI26 / 24–3431 / 29–3938 / 34–4542 / 38–4841 / 38–4537 / 34–4038 / 35–4137 / 34–4033 / 30–3631 / 28–3528 / 24–3425 / 22–32
RH %60 / 52–6659 / 50–6558 / 48–6458 / 48–6360 / 51–6465 / 60–6865 / 60–6765 / 60–6866 / 62–6965 / 59–6863 / 56–6761 / 53–67

Each figure is the median across the 52 grid cells holding the 59 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1380:1807 (20.975, -89.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 11.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 14.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 52 distinct grid cells holding the 59 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1380:1807 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 21.00_-89.375, lapse-corrected -2 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 9 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast· introduced: Germany, Sardegna, South European Russia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Madeira, Benin, Gambia, The, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Zaïre, Chad, Ethiopia, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Provinces, Aldabra, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Afghanistan, Lebanon-Syria, Sinai, Turkey, Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Korea, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Laccadive Is., Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., South China Sea, Thailand, Vietnam, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Philippines, Sulawesi, Christmas I., Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Fiji, Gilbert Is., Niue, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cook Is., Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Hawaii, Ontario, Québec, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New York, California, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mexico Northeast, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Aruba, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil Northeast
Kew's description“annual” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker19.892, -88.001 · in the densest population, 50 records (83% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 60 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 30 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 121 km away. 1391 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km and stays on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 60 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Datura metelDatura metelDatura metelDatura metelDatura metelDatura metelDatura metelDatura metel

Photographs: no rights reserved · CC0 (3); (c) Rony Ristow, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) 林孫鋒(Lin Sun Fong), some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Dinesh Valke, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Datura metel, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Antimicrobial activity and induction of systemic resistance in rice by leaf extract of Datura metel against Rhizoctonia solani and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae
Sateesh Kagale, T. Marimuthu, B. Thayumanavan, R. Nandakumar (2004) · Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology
Comparison of Different Solvents for Phytochemical Extraction Potential from Datura metel Plant Leaves
Dixon Dhawan, J K Gupta (2016) · International Journal of Biological Chemistry
Comparative study of phytochemical screening, antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities of fresh and dry leaves crude plant extracts of Datura metel L
Tahiya Hilal Ali Al-Abri, Amira Hamood Salim Al Musalami, Mohammad Amzad Hossain, Afaf Mohammed Weli (2013) · Journal of King Saud University - Science
Micropropagation: A Tool for the Production of High Quality Plant-based Medicines
Mousumi Debnath, C. P. Malik, Prashant Bisen (2006) · Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Melatonin and serotonin in flowers and fruits of Datura metel L.
Susan J. Murch, Ali Ramazan Alan, Jin Cao, Praveen K. Saxena (2009) · Journal of Pineal Research
Phytofabrication of Silver Nanoparticles by Leaf Extract of Datura metel: Hypothetical Mechanism Involved in Synthesis
Jayendra Kesharwani, Ki Young Yoon, Jungho Hwang, Mahendra Rai (2009) · Journal of Bionanoscience
Effect of pmt gene overexpression on tropane alkaloid production in transformed root cultures of Datura metel and Hyoscyamus muticus
Elisabeth Moyano, Katja Jouhikainen, Päivi Tammela, Javier Palazón (2003) · Journal of Experimental Botany
Improvement of atropine production by different biotic and abiotic elicitors in hairy root cultures of Datura metel
Zahra Shakeran, Mehrnaz Keyhanfar, Gholamreza Asghari, Mustafa Ghanadian (2015) · TURKISH JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY
Transcriptomic and Reverse Genetic Analysesof Branched-Chain Fatty Acid and Acyl Sugar Production inSolanum pennelliiandNicotiana benthamiana
Stephen P. Slocombe, Ines Schauvinhold, Ryan P. McQuinn, Katrin Beßer (2008) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Chemical constituents from the flower of Datura metel L.
Haixue Kuang, Bing‐You Yang, Yong‐Gang Xia, Weisheng Feng (2008) · Archives of Pharmacal Research
Studies on antimycotic properties of Datura metel
Rajesh, G. L. Sharma (2002) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Quantitative traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat livestock diseases from Kudavasal taluk of Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, India
R. Parthiban, Subramaniyan Vijayakumar, S. Prabhu, Jobu Gnanaselvam Esther Morvin Yabesh (2015) · Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Datura 3 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 159 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.