Exotic Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia, various species) gets its common name from the twelve-inch blossoms like flaring horns pointing down from the heavens. The plants are native to Central and South America where they are still used in healing and religious rituals. They have been cultivated for so long that all of the identified species are believed to be domesticated varieties rather than truly "wild."

A constituent of the plant’s biochemistry is the alkaloid scopolamine, used in minute quantities to combat motion sickness and in specialized medical applications. In larger amounts scopolamine, together with some of Brugmansia’s other alkaloids, hyoscyamine and atropine, causes terrible thirst, fever, delirium, tachycardia and even death. Accidental ingestion of the plant is rare because the smell and taste of all the plant’s parts is strong and unpleasant. Only the flowers have a sweet, fleeting fragrance after dusk, which helps attract moths to pollinate them.

The dramatic-looking flowers make Brugmansia a favorite in tropical landscapes from Florida to South America. The Brugmansia Growers International is a group formed just for afficionados of this spellbinding genus. 

In the month of October the Garden will present “Wicked Wonders of the Plant World,” an educational display highlighting some  familiar, beautiful plants with surpising powers both to harm and to heal. Online resources with info about common and potentially hazardous plants include databases assembled by North Carolina State University and the government of Canada.

Tags: medicianl plants, tropical plants

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 7:47 am and is filed under Ann McCulloh, Upcoming Shows, Wicked Wonders of the Plant World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.