The book "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs William Starr Dana gives the common names of "Thorn-Apple" and "Jamestown-Weed" to this plant. I've always heard it called either Devil's Trumpet or Jimson Weed, but I suppose that's why we have Latin names to keep us all straight.

The author states that the showy white flowers are found in waste places during the summer and autumn, "a heap of rubbish forming their usual unattractive background." She considers the plant to be rank and ill-scented. She also notes that it was introduced from Asia and "was so associated with civilization as to be called the 'white man's plant' by the Indians." She warns that this genus possesses narcotic-poisonous properties.

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