Datura stramonium is an erect annual herb, sometimes a subshrub, up to 1.5 m tall. The whole plant is poisonous and contains hyoscyamine; medicinally it has sedative, analgesic and anaesthetic effects.

The Monpa of Mêdog have rich knowledge of using Datura to treat toothache: (1) collect ripe fruits in autumn and dry them for later use; (2) take some seeds from the fruits; (3) mix the seeds with aged lard; (4) place the mixture on a red-hot piece of iron set in a basin of water; (5) cover it with a prepared bamboo tube fitted with a straw; (6) direct the straw at the painful tooth to fumigate it (see below).