Cut and dried, part three:A Datura update

This was part two.

Was it back in July that I got all excited about the blossoming of a Datura stramonium specimen in the garden? Well, here it is September, and I'm still talking about that plant (or, at least, some of its parts).

I cut several seed pods from the plant several days before we left Chicagoland. I sent some to friends and brought three with me. I placed them in a bowl on top of our closet and let them continue to dry. A bit of fine fungus grew on and inside the pods in that time, and I hope that the seeds will still be viable after I quickly dunked them in a sub-boiling bath with eucalyptus, peppermint and wintergreen oils. I've left the many, many seeds from two of those pods to dry. The third has yet to crack.

Meanwhile, I spotted a couple of broad Datura specimens outside of the school where I teach. Not sure of the species; perhaps D. meteloides inoxia because of the grey-green leaves and long flowers? Will have to look into it.

I'll only have the photos to rely upon, though, because two days later, those plants were pulled out.

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See this page for more on the species.