Is the death flower Datura poisonous? You can be poisoned just by smelling it, and how it differs from the red spider lily

In rural areas there is a flower called “yanglazi”, but its real name is Datura. Datura flowers can not only be used for anesthesia, but can also be used to treat diseases. However, some people use Datura flowers for home decoration, which is not acceptable. Because Datura flowers are poisonous, so can you be poisoned just by smelling them? Are they the same as the red spider lily? What is the difference?

1. Is the Datura flower, one of the top ten death flowers, poisonous?

1. The entire Datura plant is poisonous, and the seeds in the fruit are especially the most toxic, followed by the young leaves; dried leaves are less toxic than fresh leaves. Under normal circumstances it can kill a horse in a short time, and it also causes great harm to the human body.

2. The main toxic components of Datura flowers are atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine and others. After poisoning, a state of extreme sympathetic nervous system excitement appears.

3. What should be done if poisoned by Datura flowers?

(1) If you accidentally eat Datura flowers, the fastest method is to induce vomiting; after inducing vomiting, go to the hospital as soon as possible for gastric lavage.

(2) After Datura poisoning, immediately wash the stomach with potassium permanganate solution or tannic acid, then take magnesium oxide, charcoal powder or a general antidote orally.

(3) After Datura poisoning, administer a saline laxative by gavage, and at the same time inject glucose solution intravenously to promote the excretion of the toxic substances.

(4) For detoxification from Datura poisoning with Chinese medicine, 30 grams of licorice and 60 grams of mung beans can be decocted in water and taken; it must be drunk continuously without interruption.

2. Can you also be poisoned by smelling Datura flowers?

Smelling the fragrance of Datura flowers will not cause poisoning; as long as you do not eat its leaves, branches or roots, there is no problem. But do not smell them for too long either.

3. Are Datura and the red spider lily the same?

No, the red spider lily, also known as manjusaka, is a variety of Lycoris radiata. Datura is a wild upright woody annual herbaceous plant in the Solanaceae family. Both flowers have connections with Buddhism and both represent death, but they can be completely distinguished by their morphology.

4. Differences between the red spider lily and Datura

1. Differences in morphology between the red spider lily and Datura

Red spider lily: Lycoris radiata is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a nearly spherical bulb covered by a purplish-brown membrane, 1-3 cm in diameter. The leaves are narrowly strap-shaped, about 15 cm long and about 0.5 cm wide, blunt at the tip, 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.

Datura: Datura is a wild upright woody annual herbaceous plant in the Solanaceae family, 0.5-1.5 m tall, with a thick, cylindrical stem, light green or tinged with purple, and the lower part is woody. The leaves are alternate, becoming opposite in the upper part; the leaf blade is ovate or broadly ovate, with an acuminate tip. The flowers are solitary in the branch forks or leaf axils, upright, with short pedicels; the calyx is tubular, 4-5 cm long; the corolla is funnel-shaped, greenish in the lower half and white or light purple in the upper part. The capsule is upright, ovate, 3-4.5 cm long and 2-4 cm in diameter, with hard spines on the surface or sometimes without spines and nearly smooth, and pale yellow when mature.

2. The red spider lily and Datura belong to different families and genera

Red spider lily: the red spider lily is a variety of the species Lycoris radiata in the plant kingdom, angiosperms, monocotyledons, Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae, Lycoris genus.

Datura: Datura is a plant in the plant kingdom, angiosperms, angiosperm subphylum, dicotyledons, Asteridae, Solanales, Solanaceae, Datureae tribe, Datura genus.

3. The red spider lily and Datura have different alternative names

Red spider lily: alternative names for the red spider lily include red Lycoris radiata, manjusaka, dragon claw flower, old crow garlic, garlic-head grass, ghost-raising fire, ghost flower, hell flower and others.

Datura: alternative names for Datura include mandala, manda, manzha, manda, drunken-heart flower, dog walnut, foreign golden flower, maple eggplant flower, ten-thousand peach flower, naoyang flower, large trumpet flower, mountain eggplant and others.

5. Similarities between the red spider lily and Datura

1. Both have very beautiful names, and both also have very mysterious legends.

2. Both have connections with Buddhism; Datura is one of the four famous flowers of Buddhism. The red spider lily is also called manjusaka, and is one of the four flowers in the Lotus Sutra.

3. Both are poisonous; legend says the seeds of Datura are extremely toxic, and the rhizome of the red spider lily is poisonous.

4. Both are inauspicious flowers; both flowers represent death. It is said that Datura flowers bloom on the road to heaven, representing darkness, hope, death and so on. The red spider lily covers the road to hell, representing sorrow, longing and death.