Datura Flower, also known as Yangjinhua: its benefits, effects, contraindications and toxicity, and how it differs from the red spider lily

Yangjinhua, also called datura flower, is a beautiful ornamental plant that can also be used as medicine, with an outstanding anesthetic effect, and can also relieve asthma and stop coughing. So what are the benefits, effects and contraindications of Yangjinhua? Is it toxic? How is it different from the red spider lily?

1. What are the benefits and effects of Yangjinhua?

1. Relieves cough and asthma

Relieving cough and asthma is one of the important effects of Yangjinhua. When people suffer from asthma and persistent coughing, they can take one or two qian of Yangjinhua, one qian of saltpetre, one or two qian of Fritillaria cirrhosa, eight qian of Pinellia, six qian of Eupatorium japonicum, and five qian of Tussilago farfara, grind them together into a fine powder, then take one jin of old ginger and extract its juice, mix it evenly with the herbs and steam them in a pot, take them out and store them after steaming, and take three to five grams each time.

2. Calms and extinguishes wind

Yangjinhua also has an outstanding effect on calming and extinguishing wind, and it has a clear therapeutic effect on infantile convulsions. For treatment, one can take seven flowers of Yangjinhua, two and a half qian of Sanma, ten scorpions, and two and a half qian each of Arisaema, cinnabar and frankincense, grind them together into a fine powder, and take half a qian each time after mixing it evenly with mint decoction.

3. Anesthesia and pain relief

Anesthesia and pain relief is also one of the important effects of Yangjinhua. It contains some alkaloids and some atropine. After these substances enter the human body, they can anesthetize nerves and also make painful symptoms improve quickly. It is commonly used for anesthesia in surgery, and the anesthetic effect is especially good.

2. What side effects and contraindications does Yangjinhua have?

Yangjinhua is toxic and should not be taken in excess. In addition, people who are weak or have externally contracted phlegm-heat should not take Yangjinhua, and patients with hypertension and glaucoma should also take less Yangjinhua, otherwise it will worsen the symptoms of these diseases and is not conducive to recovery.

3. Is Yangjinhua toxic?

It is toxic. The fruit is the most toxic, followed by the tender leaves. Dried leaves are less toxic than fresh leaves.

Many people learn from films and television works that datura flower is a toxic plant. Is that really the case? We should know that datura flower is a very alluring plant and also has a very fragrant scent. Therefore, being able to grow this plant seems like a good choice, but in fact this is not the case. Datura flower is toxic, so planting it requires caution.

The toxicity of the datura plant is found in almost the entire plant, with the fruit, especially the seeds, being the most toxic, followed by the tender leaves. Dried leaves are less toxic than fresh leaves. Among them, the toxic components of datura mainly include scopolamine and hyoscyamine, followed by atropine, apoatropine, noratropine, daturine, tigloidine, datura alkaloid, skimmianine, 2,6-dihydroxy hyoscyamine, cuscohygrine and 7-hydroxy-3,6-ditigloyloxytropane. The total alkaloid content is highest at the end of flowering and drops rapidly when the seeds mature. Hemagglutinin is also isolated from the seeds.

There are also relatively many cases of datura flower poisoning. Poisoned individuals generally show symptoms half an hour after eating, as quickly as 20 minutes, and no later than 3 hours; the toxic dose varies depending on the route of entry of the toxin, age and health status. An adult can be poisoned by eating three fruits; children are more sensitive, and only one tenth of an adult dose, no more than one fruit, or 3 to 4 seeds can cause poisoning, mostly with acute sudden onset. Children who are poisoned also show drowsiness. External application of datura leaves can also cause acute systemic poisoning, with symptoms the same as oral ingestion, and symptoms appear faster than with oral ingestion.

Not only humans can be poisoned; even livestock that eat datura flower can be poisoned. Cats are the most sensitive, followed by cattle and horses, while sheep and rabbits have the strongest tolerance. The lethal dose of the aboveground parts of the plant for cattle is 150-300 g, for horses 150-200 g, and for sheep 75-200 g. A horse that eats 1 kg of seeds dies of convulsions the next day. The seeds are especially toxic to ostriches and are also toxic to fish. Recent reports say that symptoms of poisoning in sheep include ataxia, spontaneous muscle fasciculation, hyperesthesia, rapid breathing and reduced water intake.

4. What is the difference between Yangjinhua and the red spider lily?

1. The red spider lily and Yangjinhua belong to different families and genera

(1) Yangjinhua: Yangjinhua is a plant in the plant kingdom, angiosperms, angiosperm subphylum, dicotyledonous plants, Asteridae, Solanales, Solanaceae, Datureae, Datura genus.

(2) Red spider lily: The red spider lily is a variety of the plant kingdom, angiosperms, monocotyledonous plants, Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae, Lycoris genus, Lycoris radiata species.

2. The red spider lily and Yangjinhua have different alternative names

(1) Yangjinhua: The alternative names of Yangjinhua include datura, mandala, Manda, Manzha, Manda, drunken-heart flower, dog walnut, maple eggplant flower, ten-thousand peach flower, naoyanghua, large trumpet flower, mountain eggplant, and so on.

(2) Red spider lily: The alternative names of the red spider lily include red-flowered Lycoris, Manjusaka, dragon-claw flower, old crow garlic, garlic-head grass, ghost-raising fire, ghost flower, hell flower, and so on.

3. The red spider lily and Yangjinhua have different forms

(1) Yangjinhua: Yangjinhua is a wild upright woody annual herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family, 0.5-1.5 m tall, with a thick, cylindrical stem, light green or with purple, and the lower part lignified. The leaves are alternate, opposite in the upper part, and the leaf blades are ovate or broadly ovate with acuminate tips. The flowers are solitary in the branch forks or leaf axils, upright, with short pedicels, the calyx is tubular, 4-5 cm long, and the corolla is funnel-shaped, green in the lower half and white or light purple in the upper part. The capsule is upright, ovate, 3-4.5 cm long, 2-4 cm in diameter, with hard prickles on the surface or sometimes without prickles and nearly smooth, and light yellow after maturity.

(2) Red spider lily: Red-flowered Lycoris is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a nearly spherical bulb covered with a purplish-brown membrane, 1-3 cm in diameter. The leaves are narrowly band-shaped, about 15 cm long and about 0.5 cm wide, with blunt tips, dark green, with a powdery green band in the middle. The umbel is terminal, the flower stem is about 30 cm tall, and the flowers are bright red. The flowering period is August-September, and the fruiting period is October.