Okay....newbie here. Will someone please explain how these are so alike and yet completely different Genus and species? This is soooo confusing to me. I have always loved Datura, and then I saw some posts around here on Brugs and thought *duh* "wow, that sure looks alot like Datura!" When I looked them up in O.G.E. under "Brugmansia" it said "see datura metel"
And, as I live in 7b-8a, will someone suggest some cold hardy varieties that mightn't have to be moved inside during winter?
Brugs and Dats questions from a newbie...
Both Brugmansia & Datura are in the same family of Solanaceae.
Brugmansia grow into trees, produce brown wood and are perennial in warmer climates. 99% of their flowers point down and are usually called Angels Trumpet. They produce green bean like seed pods.
Datura are annual bushes (except in climates with no frost) and normally produce green wood. Their stems and trunks are almost always green though there are a few that are black. Their flowers point up and are mistakenly called Angels Trumpet but are acutally Devils Trumpet. They produce round, spikey or bumpy seed pods that can literally explode when ripe throwing seeds all over the place if the pod is not well hydrated.
All parts of both are extremely toxic. The roots, stems, flowers, leaves and seeds contain the chemicals atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine in varying concentrations. If you have toddlers or pets that like to sample plants you must take special care to make sure they cannot come in contact in anyway with either plant. If ingested it could kill them.
When handling either (collecting seeds, pruning etc.), make it a point not to touch your face, eat or handle food until you have washed your hands. If you have ever experienced headaches, confusion or vision problems after working with your Brugs or Dats, you have inadvertantly poisoned yourself. Most of the time you will not connect the two. I have poisoned myself unknowingly harvesting Datura seeds when I had open cuts on my fingers or neglected to wash my hands right after harvesting the seeds.
X
desert_witch
Don't freak out , just be carefull around these plants .
Go to this site for all the poisonius plants / mostly
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http://www.ferretdepot.com/poisonousplants.shtml
Thank you for the great info, X!
And the concern, tonyjr.
I'm quite familiar with the poisonous qualities of Sacred Datura. I was growning it as a "medicine" plant, as native and aboriginal people understand the term.
"They produce round, spikey or bumpy seed pods that can literally explode when ripe throwing seeds all over the place if the pod is not well hydrated."
I can identify with that! When growing Sacred Datura for it's medicine or sacred qualities, it's important to leave it a bit "thirsty". I had exploding seedpods everywhere!
I'll have to research the above "active ingredients" *s*, and see how they would match up for trance-work/sacred vision.
So why is it I got a variety from Park's identified as "Datura metel, Angel Trumpet Ballerina Mix"...Just because they thought it'd sell better than something called "Devil's Trumpet"??!! *LOL* Also the seeds are pretty tiny compared to the Sacred datura I'm familiar with. They're all up, though! *yippee*
And I planted some mixed Brugs I traded for yesterday. I can't wait!
This DG is just so cool! Thanks again, peeps!
In Light and Shadow
d_w
edited because my attempt at an HTML quote failed miserably!
This message was edited Mar 25, 2006 10:26 PM