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DESCRIPTION:
Sacred datura, also known as tolguacha, is a native perennial in
dry, sandy, or gravelly soils of agricultural and noncropped
areas.
It is becoming more prevalent because of its resistance to herbicides.
This plant is toxic to all livestock. Mature plants are 2 to
3 feet
(60 - 90 cm) tall, widely branched with gray-green foliage, and
have a fleshy taproot. Leaves are 1.5 to 5 inches (3.7 - 12.5
cm)
long, elliptical, asymmetrical at the base, and covered with short,
soft hairs. Flowers are 6 to 10 inches (15 - 25 cm) long, white
with a violet tinge, and funnel-shaped with 5 slender teeth. The
fruit are hard, roughly spherical, and densely covered with
short
spines. Seedlings germinate in May or June, and leaves on seedlings
are narrow and pointed with smooth short hairs on the upper
surface.
Sacred datura is similar to a related annual species, jimsonweed.
Jimsonweed fruit are more oval and have thicker, more robust spines.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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