Jimsonweed
Did you know that the
common garden weed Jimsonweed was named after the Virginia settlement
of Jamestown? The name dates back to 1676 when British soldiers sent to
squash Bacon's Rebellion instead ended up enduring an eleven-day
hallucinogenic episode due to dining on Jimsonweed leaves.
I'll be pulling these
volunteers out shortly, but wanted to enjoy the evening-opening,
moth-pollinated flowers first.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Fun facts!
You made me curious - off to Wikipedia I went. The leaves have a 'bitter and nauseating taste' so I wonder why they ate them at all. And the fatal dose is not much more than the 'medicinal' dose, so I'm surprised that the troops didn't drop like flies after eating it. The plant is 'foul-smelling' but the flowers are 'fragrant' - what a contradiction! Among its various names is "Moonflower" - do you know if it's the same as the Moonflower that's commercially available?
Comment by
Rhonda from Baddeck
— Tue Jun 12 17:28:12 2018
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Moonflower
Rhonda --- I'm pretty sure the Moonflower most people buy is a morning-glory relative. At least that's what we planted when I was a kid!
Comment by
anna
— Wed Jun 13 09:15:18 2018
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