Location: Jimson weed is usually found in warm climates. While it is not native to Britain, it can now be found growing in the gardens of southern England.

Jimsonweed was originally called Jamestown weed because the soldiers sent to quell "Bacon’s Rebellion" in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1666 ate the berries when food ran out and mass poisoning resulted. Another man was poisoned after he drank an herbal tea brewed from the leaves of this plant.

The funnel-shaped flowers of the jimsonweed plant are white or purple. The entire plant has an unpleasant odor, and the fruit, which appears in autumn, is prickly, ovoid or globular, and contains numerous wrinkled black seeds.

Effects and Symptoms: People who ingest parts of the jimsonweed plant will experience headache, vertigo, extreme thirst, dry burning sensation of skin, dilated pupils, blurred vision, loss of sight, involuntary motion, mania, delirium, drowsiness, weak pulse, convulsions, and coma. These symptoms, if left not treated properly can result in the death of the patient.