A serious challenge to all growers...

And the answer is .... Jimson weed or Datura Stramonium ... just don't eat it.!

Jimson Weed, (scientific name Datura stramonium) is a toxic  plant found all over Illinois.  Some of its other common names include devil’s trumpet, thorn apple,  Jamestown weed, stinkweed, and  locoweed.  Ingestion of parts of the plant can cause delirium (inability to differentiate reality from fantasy), hallucinations, elevated temperature, flushed skin, fast heart rate,  and agitation (bizarre, and possibly violent behaviour).  The changes in mental status can last for days in cases of severe intoxication.

All parts of the plant can be considered toxic, but the leaves, juices and seeds can cause the most effects.  The plant is a perennial blooming plant; the leaves and flowers bloom in the spring and summer and the seeds set in the late summer and fall.

Ok here's the details:

This little beauty is a bushy plant that bears a large white trumpet flower and this very spiky seed pod or fruit...not sure which.

It is growing in the garden of a house that the parents of a friend of ours  have recently moved into in southern France and in his words has grown out of the middle of a pile of chicken poo...

So our question to you is what is it?

Please use the comments option at the bottom of this post to give your answers and if you would like to win a small selection of our deli produce by special delivery for being the first with a correct answer then you will need to provide an email address in your post.

Good luck...