Angel's Trumpet

This tall, deciduous shrub is actually from the same plant family as the potato (Solanaceae)! It grows wild on the forested mountain slopes of Colombia.

Dream plant

The flower’s sweet scent is strongest at dusk and it was once believed their perfume could induce sleep. Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia aurea) is highly poisonous, the plant actually contains alkaloids that cause hallucinations. It is still used by local shamans to aid their ‘visions’. In nature the perfume attracts moths and hummingbirds to pollinate the flowers.

A dark history
In the past, a sinister concoction of Brugmansia, tobacco and maize beer was given to slaves and wives of dead kings inducing a deep sleep so that they could be buried alive with their masters

Back up to: temperate house plants

On to: Aristolochia