What type of flower did Georgia O'Keeffe enlarge in her famous 1932 painting Jimson Weed?

Georgia O'Keeffe enlarged a white jimson weed flower in her famous 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1.

The painting shows a single white blossom enlarged against a dark background. Jimson weed, also called Datura, is a flowering plant with trumpet-shaped blooms. O'Keeffe’s close-up approach removes most surrounding context and makes the flower’s folds, shadows, and radial structure the dominant visual experience.

O'Keeffe frequently painted flowers at unusually large scale, but she resisted the idea that the paintings were simply coded representations of female anatomy. She explained that people rushed past flowers in nature, so she made them large enough to compel attention. This distinction is important because popular commentary often reduces her flower paintings to symbolic interpretations she did not endorse.

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 was painted in 1932 and later became notable for its auction record. The flower itself is not a rose, calla lily, or hollyhock, though O'Keeffe painted those and other flowers during her career.