Now that’s some potent weed.
A wild spray of a hallucinogenic plant known as jimson weed — which can be deadly in small amounts and has been linked to turning people into “zombies” — cropped up on the Upper West Side before it was chopped down.
The patch of leafy greens and white, trumpet-shaped flowers grew a couple feet high in a plant bed at Columbus Avenue and West 93rd Street and was spotted over the weekend by former New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
“What a long, strange trip: Bumper crop of Datura stramonium, aka Jimsonweed, growing in planting bed on Columbus Ave. Greenway at 93rd St. in NYC,” Benepe tweeted on Saturday. “A well-known hallucinogenic plant, it is also fatally toxic when consumed in even tiny amounts.”
Benepe told The Post that he’s seen Jimson weed in places around the city over the past few years, including near Chelsea Piers.
“It likes what you call disturbed soil,” he explained on Tuesday. “If you just leave bare earth alone in urban environments, these opportunist plants plant. Their seeds are carried by the wind or in the digestive tracts of animals, particularly birds.”
The hearty weed begins blooming in the late summer, according to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It is part of the nightshade family and related to tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco and potato plants — but there’s nothing delicious about it.
“All parts of the plant are toxic, most particularly the seeds,” the Brooklyn Botanic Garden said on its website. “Potent amounts of alkaloid compounds are present, which potentially cause convulsions, hallucinations, and even death if ingested.”
The garden added that animals tend to stay away from jimson weed — thanks to its stinky-feet scent when crushed.
But humans have been known to use jimson weed for medicinal purposes since Colonial times, as a recreational drug that causes hallucinations and euphoria, according to WebMD, which notes that the plant is “unsafe” when ingested or inhaled.
The plant, known as “zombie cucumber” in Haiti, also has links to zombification in voodoo, a 2013 report by LiveScience said.
By Tuesday morning, the weed had been uprooted and removed.
But area residents fumed that the plant was allowed to grow undisturbed in the first place.
“I remember seeing it the other day! I was walking home yesterday and I saw this big growth. I’m angry. My dog could die, could get sick,” said Fred Massin, 74, who was walking his dog. “This is emblematic of somebody somewhere not caring. I assume anything being planted is supervised by the city.”
Benepe said while the handsome plant, which sports spiky pods, may be nice to look at, it poses a potential risk, especially to curious children.
“The thing I’m most worried about is the toddler factor. Those seed pods are very attractive,” he said.
Benepe, who worked for the city Department of Parks and Recreation for 27 years, suggested that New Yorkers who come across the weed should report it to 311.
“I’d say report it and leave it to the experts to deal with,” he said.
Reps for the city Parks Department and city Department of Transportation didn’t respond to emails.