| thorn apple | |
| —n | |
| 1. | See also stramonium US and Canadian name: jimson weed a poisonous solanaceous plant, Datura stramonium, of the N hemisphere, having white funnel-shaped flowers and spiny capsule fruits |
| 2. | any other plant of the genus Datura |
| 3. | the fruit of certain types of hawthorn |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
thorn apple
annual, herbaceous, tropical plant (Datura stramonium) of the potato family (Solanaceae) that has become an introduced weed throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. The plant was used by Algonquin Indians in eastern North America as a hallucinogen and intoxicant. The leaves contain potent alkaloids (hyoscamine and hyoscine), and the plant has been used to develop a drug (stramonium) for treating asthma.
Learn more about thorn apple with a free trial on Britannica.com.