Ming herbal (painting): Thorn apple

Unknown artist

Lettering: Thorn apple (mantuoluo, Datura stramonium) has a green stem and jade-green leaves. It grows to 3 chi in height (1 chi [Chinese foot] = c. ? m.). It bears white flowers with six petals resembling morning glory (qianniu hua), which open in the morning and close at night. It bears rounded spiky fruit containing small seeds. If one smiles when gathering it, the patient will smile on taking it; if one weeps when gathering it, the patient will weep on taking it. The flowers and seeds are pungent in sapor, and poisonous. It is indicated for all kinds of wind-cold-damp and beri-beri (jiaoqi), decocted and used as a medicinal wash. It is also used to treat infantile convulsions (jingxian, lit. 'fright epilepsy') in combination with ephedra (mahuang) leaves.