Plant used for poisonous Amazonian arrowheads found in English garden

A tropical hallucinogenic plant used to make poisonous Amazonian arrowheads has been found in an English garden. Sharon Nowell, 36, thought the green shoots appearing in her parents' garden were the beginnings of a marrow or possibly a common weed at first.

But after a bit of research she soon discovered that the plant – which has grown by four feet in a month – was something far more exotic. Internet searches showed that the plant was actually a rare datura stramonium – commonly known as the Devil's Trumpet for its distinctive horn-shaped flowers. The green plant, which resembles a large rhubarb, is more commonly found in hotter climates and has been used by American Indians for centuries in traditional ceremonies.

Despite being highly toxic and potentially lethal if ingested, the seeds in the plant's pods are often used as a mind-bending drug sold as jimson weed online for as little as £6. Experts believe its appearance in the garden in Coventry, West Midlands, originated from the droppings of migrating birds flying from the Atlantic.

Miss Nowell, who lives with her parent's Anne and Norman, searched for the plant online and discovered it is more commonly found in America and southern Europe. A friend then posted a photo of it on an online forum and was soon inundated with messages confirming it was the highly poisonous Devil's Trumpet. During her search, she was also contacted by companies in the US who sell the seeds as recreational drugs.