Ways of seeing the world

I was once told that, on seeing a dandelion seed blowing in the wind, an artist would see the beauty in it and a biologist would see little packets of dna being transported.  But an ecologist would see both.

Then I looked at this photo and started thinking...



As a small child, I would have seen the seeds blowing and thought they were magical, probably fairies floating in the air to their magical kingdoms.

As an older child, I would have seen the donkey and wanted him for my own.

As a biology student, I would have seen the dna being transported, and maybe I'd have had a bit of an idea about energy flows between plants and animals.

As a gardener, I would have seen the weeds.

As a horse owner, I would have feaked out at the jimson weed!!

As a permaculturist (is that a word?) I see the way those other weeds grow despite total lack of care over our dry summers and that the donkey seems to like them, and wonder if I ought to catch some of that seed, find out what the plant is called, cultivate a bit, and offer to send some seeds to Ludi.  Also, I wonder if jimson weed has any uses that I might actually be interested in, or should I just pull it up before the donkey eats it.

But, just as me, I *still* see it as kind of magical. 

Burra, do you mean jimson weed ala Datura stramonium?
If so, I'd worry about the neighbourhood's mental health more than the donkey.
I've heard some very bad stories, but haven't tried it.
I still find red hollyhocks magical, though that childhood wonder mightn't survive a dose of jimson weed!

I think that's the stuff.  It's native here and grows all over the place.  Never known of anyone abusing it round here.

We accidentally discovered it back in the UK when a strange plant started to grow where a chicken tractor had been. We'd been feeding the young chickens 'wild bird seed' so we decided to let it grow to see if was a useful chicken fodder plant.  When it was big enough and distinctive enough to identify, I went through all my books and discovered it was hallucinogenic and controlled in the UK, so we quickly pulled it up and disposed of before the neighbours spotted it.

We're going to have to remove the jimson weed before the donkey eats it, but he seemed so happy stuffing his face with the other stuff.  And I didn't want to be seen pulling it and removing it in front of him in case he thought I was eating it and decided to test it himself next time.  Still have to figure out what the other stuff is though - both donkeys seem to like it.

I'm not seeing Jimson Weed in that photo. 


Rejected photo removed because of being not good enough.

Nah - that's some irrigated, over fertilised domestic version in a raised bed!

Mine's proper stuff that grows in crappy soil with no water. 

Ok thanks. 

I have Jimson weed growing at my house, also its relative Brugmansia. I love the long flowers with the brain tingling scent.

About the only use I have found for it is as a cough suppressant. Smoking a small number of seeds or dried flowers can sooth the lungs and maybe give a slight mellow buzz. (NOTE: Jimson weed / Datura / Brugmansia / Angel trumpet is a known powerful hallucinogen with a wild variation in strength from plant to plant, ingesting plant materials is dangerous. IN MY OPINION, smoking small amounts seems to relatively safe comparatively. )

I'm not a doctor, so don't take my word for usefulness or safeness,  this is just a folk remedy I found somewhere and it seems to work for me.

Haha - as someone who gets drunk sniffing a glass of wine and starts hallucinating if I sit next to someone smoking a joint *outside*, I think the furthest I'll go is experimenting with the 'brain tingling' scent.  I found a few seedlings growing in the chicken area - I pulled those in case I end up with hallucinogenic eggs!

Ludi - no need to have removed the photo.  It was actually quite interesting to see the difference.  I'm not sure if it was a different strain, or if the difference in soil and water availability made the plants grow so differently. 

Now, I really must check out that other plant and see if it has any useful properties apart from a tasty treat for the burros...

a little of the jimson weed and you might be all the way back to the beginning, eh? 

Burra Maluca wrote:

As a small child, I would have seen the seeds blowing and thought they were magical, probably fairies floating in the air to their magical kingdoms.