what kind of flower is this?

[mygoat]

sorry i dont have a picture, but we have this weird flower growing, that is actually quite nice. it is large and white, about 7 or so inches across. it always wilts in the morning, and new flowers open every night. the seed pods are really spikey and round. last year i took a seed pod from the single plant we had and planted some seeds. they came up this year and are already as large as the origional.
the flower itself reminds me of an upside down dress, and smells nice, kind of musky.
it has like 50 seed pods going per plant; what am i going to do with all those seeds, i cant leave them or ill be overgrown.... maybe ill give them to friends
neways, help me identify this plant plz!!
thanx

[shellbug]

sounds like what my grandma had - she called it moonflower and grew it in a pot that she took into the basement each fall - sometimes she would freeze a blossom so a friend that might visit could see it

[Paquebot]

They are beautiful, aren't they? That would be a White Datura. It's a domesticated version of Jimsonweed but still has all of the toxicity of the wild types. If you do give the seeds to friends, make certain that they know of that fact if they have young children around.

I like them and have both the large white and the smaller purple ones. Right now, one can smell them 100 feet away if the night air is just right. I don't bother saving seeds for them as they manage to re-seed themselves almost as readily as their wild cousins. When the pods open, seeds go in all directions. Those seeds will apparently remain viable in the ground for many years.

Martin