Comments on: Crab Moon

By: cheshire cap

cheshire cap — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:57:55 +0000

We were taught that it’s a hare in the moon and the shadows on the moon do look like a hare

By: ariesartist

ariesartist — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:09:33 +0000

errr
you can smoke the furled flowers like a big cigar.
that or make a tea
smoking is safer – but very dangerous anyway you take it!

in japan
it is the rabbit in the moon not the man in the moon. the rabbits are pounding mochi (sticky rice).

By: nat

nat — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:56:47 +0000

Enjoy the perfume of the moonflower Mystic. No harm in enjoying the scent of these flowers, but eating/smoking/boiling/drinking or even rubbing your eyes after touching unknown plants can be risky if you don’t know what you are dealing with.

The ‘moonflower’ pictured here looks like Ipomoea alba, one of the twining vines similar to the common blue-flowered morning glory. Many plants that require moths or bats for pollination have pale reflective or luminescent flowers that open and release their perfume at night. Divine.

This ‘moonflower’ is in a different family to the herbaceous ‘Thorn Apples’ (Datura stramonium) or the woody ‘Angel’s Trumpets’ (Brugmansia species), famous for their hallucinogenic & poisonous compounds. Both the Thorn Apples and Angel’s Trumpets have long trumpet or bell shaped flowers that are much larger than the Ipomoea species pictured above.

The common names we use for plants and animals have strong local meanings but can be used for something else entirely in another locality, often just a few miles down the road! Hence the use of Latin binomials for clarity and accuracy. Thank you Linnaeus.

Thanks for the lovely Japanese fairy tale. I loved the imagery of the moonbeam transporting people and tiny horses from the Moon.

By: davidl

davidl — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:02:27 +0000

I once ate the stalks of a few blue meanies, and then was told Oh no ! dont eat the stalks, (a bit late) full of strychnine, the heads are wonderful though. Gold tops are the way to go.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:15:17 +0000

the “indigenous” folk (more commonly known as maoris here – if any racial disctinction is noted at all, indigenous is not as commonly used in aotearoa as it is in australia, we’re a bit more “all in it together” at grass roots level on the other side of the ditch – although obviously not 100% there yet, fingers crossed for the future) of my lovely cloudy land have other more easily accessed and pleasant weeds to imbibe. It’s not so interesting to us the angels trumpet. If you’re an ethno botanist our forests and gardens are plentiful – blue meanies around easter time and wacky baccie are the natural highs of choice. The young seem more drawn to man-made chemicals though – this is a concern.

By: SeaGoat

SeaGoat — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:57:31 +0000

A beautiful flower, probably why in so many gardens, etc… even saw it in a garden in Russel, Bay of Islands, NZ. I wonder if every indigenous population where it grows is aware of it’s effects and utilises it for shamanic/hallucinogenic purposes? Will have to ask local Indigenous folk about their use of it…

By: spacedout pisces

spacedout pisces — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:41:53 +0000

Carlos Castenada in one of his early books went into great detail about Datura. If memory serves, the shamanic way of preparing it for use was very detailed. It took 2 years and was considered highly dangerous even to advanced practitioners.

By: Leonine Librarian

Leonine Librarian — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:43:29 +0000

One of my ex husband’s cousins took this and yes, extreme hallucinatory experience saw her trying to walk across water in a canal. Severely cut up her legs and feet as a result. Very lucky that she didn’t drown. They do grow like weeds here in QLD.

Angel Trumpets, have these long tubular trumpet bell shaped flowers that hang down, all creamy white, almost decadent…but obviously trouble if ingested.

By: SeaGoat

SeaGoat — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:58:17 +0000

A few people I know have taken datura, with very unpleasant results. Not recommended at all. One ended up in hospital, another sent blind for a time, etc… unfortunately the ongoing urban myths about it mean there is always someone who wants an extreme hallucinatory experience, willing to risk this sort of poison. The plant is quite common up here in the tropics, even remember one outside the local pub entrance when I was a kid – handy spot, maybe, it was the raging ’70s!

By: cheshire cap

cheshire cap — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:22:58 +0000

We’ve always called Datura, Angel’s Trumpets. Stramonium’s very different and is a pest.