British Columbia: Plant ID request

A member of my garden club would like to know what this plant may be . . . 3 such plants have shown up in her garden this year. She says it has a huge white flowers that bloom for only one day.

 

Datura stramonium.

Caution: toxic.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Here is a photo of the plant, blooming today. The flower does look like Datura but the leaf is different from Datura stramonium. Could it be D. inoxia?

 

Perhaps Datura wrightii?

 

When I looked up Datura wrightii just now, I was interested to read that it is --

Sometimes Confused With

• Datura stramonium: corolla 7-10 cm long, calyx 3-5 cm long and with evident angles sometimes projected into wing-margins, and capsules erect(vs. D. wrightii, with corolla 20-24 cm long, calyx 5-15 cm long and without evident angles, and capsules +/- nodding).

• Datura inoxia: corolla 16-20 cm long, with 5 primary apical teeth alternating with 5 secondary apical teeth, entirely white (vs. D. wrightii, with corolla 20-24 cm long, with only 5 apical teeth, white or with a pale purple limb).

I will send this information to my garden club friend so she can figure out whether her plant is Datura inoxia or D. wrightii. (D. stramonium has already been ruled out because the leaf is different.)

Thanks for all the help.


( Datura wrightii (sacred thorn-apple): Go Botany )

 

After comparing the attributes of Datura inoxi a and Datura wrightii, the lady who found this growing in her garden believes it is Datura wrightii. Knowing that it is considered invasive in some places makes me worry if I should take her up on her offer of seeds but I'm tempted. It certainly is beautiful

 

This doesn't answer your question at all, just mentioning that there is a BPotD on it:
Datura wrightii

This page shows it as native in Washington state: Plants Profile for Datura wrightii (sacred thorn-apple). So you wouldn't have to consider it invasive anyway. I didn't find it listed at all on e-Flora BC.

 

Sorry, I'm not sure which question you're referring to . . . my main question was to ask the plant's identity and it looks like Datura wrightii is probably correct.

I don't know what a BPotD is.

As for native plants not being invasive, I have to disagree. I've gone out of my way for over 40 years to incorporate as many native plants in my garden as possible and I could give you a long list of BC native plants that are very invasive in residential gardens.

 

Whether you should take the seeds.
BPotD is Botany Photo of the Day. The link is there to the article.
Native plants can be bad-mannered, but I don't think you're allowed to call them invasive if it's their home territory.

 

Mmm. I guess I'll have to come up with a synonym for 'invasive' that's not too pejorative. 'Aggressive'? 'Fast-growing'? 'Strong-growing'? 'Native thugs?'

David Pearman of the Botanical Society of the British Isles first coined the phrase “native thugs” in 2004 to describe certain native plants in Britain whose impacts are possibly worse than alien invasives.

Obviously, in our own gardens, we are allowed to call any plants we dislike 'weeds' or 'invasive'.

 

If I may respectfully disagree (and agree)? There are indeed native plants that are considered invasive--but these are relatively rare, often being along the lines of "Native to Australia, specifically Western Australia, but invasive where they did not previously occur in New South Wales".

Invasive to me implies an something having an impact on a natural (or close-to-natural) ecosystem. When plants in gardening situations are bullies, I prefer the term "aggressive" -- and there are indeed many aggressive native plants in gardening situations.

 

Here is an apt cartoon from Overboard recently, while we're speaking of aggressive garden thugs.
Overboard by Chip Dunham for Jul 20, 2018 | GoComics.com