Datura metel
The generic name "Datura" is taken from Sanskrit धतूरा ' "thorn-apple", ultimately from Sanskrit धत्तूर ' "white thorn-apple" (referring to "Datura metel" of Asia). In the Ayurvedic text "Sushruta Samhita", different species of "Datura" are also referred to as ' and '. "Dhatura" is offered to Shiva in Hinduism. Record of this name in English dates back to 1662. Nathaniel Hawthorne refers to one type in "The Scarlet Letter" as "apple-Peru". In Mexico, its common name is "toloache". The Mexican common name (also spelled ) derives from the Nahuatl , meaning "the plant with the nodding head" (in reference to the nodding seed capsules of "Datura" species belonging to section "Dutra" of the genus).