n. a poisonous annual weed, Datura stramonium, of the nightshade family that grows wild in temperate and subtropical areas of the world and contains several potent anticholinergic agents, including the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine. It has been taken in small doses to treat asthma, whooping cough, muscle spasms, and other conditions and has also been applied externally for pain relief. Poisoning results in symptoms such as hyperthermia, flushing, dry mucous membranes, nausea and vomiting, rapid heartbeat, visual disturbances, hallucinations, delirium, coma, and potentially death; there is often amnesia for the period of intoxication. The name is a corruption of “Jamestown weed,” the name given to the plant by early settlers of Virginia. Also called devil’s trumpet.