Is this B. sanguinea?

I tried to start Brugmansia sanguinea from see this spring. Nothing germinated. I thought I let the tray dry out too much. Now I have this seedling growing in a pot that has been on my deck all summer. I reused the growing medium that I tried to start the seeds in. Could very well have ended up in this pot. The seed leaves have shriveled up and are starting to disintegrate. They were long and narrow, about 1 or 2" long. The leaves and stem are soft and slightly fuzzy, and they are unpleasantly smelly, like Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven, if you know that pest you know what I mean). I have only grown B. suavolens so far. This plant is very similar overall, but more pubescent, and the leaves, so far, have not developed a serrated margin. If anyone can ID , please advise! Thanks.

Here is another view of the B. sanguinea (I hope) seedling.

Sure does look like a Brugmansia seedling to me I am not sure what the color will be however as they revert back to what ever it was crossed with to get the red so it may even be a simple white.... I hope it continues to grow well for you.

James

B. sanguinea does not have serrated leaf edges. Species, such as B. arborea and B. sanguinea, will self pollinate. So the red-orange version of B sanguinea will produce red-orange blooms. The shade may vary slightly, but it will bloom true.

James, In the case of B. sanguinea, there is no reversion of the red-orange colored one. Its blooms are red-orange. There is some genetic variation so the color may vary slightly, plus other factors influence color and intensity.

A variegated plant may 'revert' back to the green, but a seed represents a brand new combination of genetic material. I haven't been able to find out how many alleles determine bloom color in Brugs. If you cross two hybrids, there may be a large variety of alleles available. In some plants the number helps determine color and/or intensity. White may be the dominant color since it appears to show up more often. It could also signify lack of color "genes" I just don't know enough about it to say. However, I do know that reversion is not involved in B. sanguinea's reddish color.

This message was edited Sep 25, 2008 4:45 AM

It sure does look like it could be a brug seedling, but not much like a sanguinea perhaps. It may be a little too early to say for sure though. As you grow it out, you'll be looking for the leaves to very soon start going closer to an oak-leaf shape. Here's some sang seedlings that developed that shape early:

This message was edited Sep 25, 2008 10:43 AM

Thanks, Bettydee. I don't know how long it takes serrated edge species to develop serrated leaves - You know how sometimes leaves will change shape as a plant matures? As I have been looking at various photos I noticed a lot of variation in leaf margin. There are even other genera, such as Physalis, that are very similar looking to B. sanguinea as young plants. Lacking other means of identification at this point I may end up bringing this plant inside in a few weeks only to find out that not only is it not a Brug or even a Datura, but some other undesireable member of the nightshade family. I think i'll have to take the wait - n - see approach for now.

For comparison, here are some arborea seedlings (many brugs look just like this):

Wandygirl; take a closer look at your seedling stem. To me it looks like the fuzzy stem that of datura instead of brugmansia.

Thanks for the pictures, grrrnthumb. Your post came in while I was typing my reply to Bettydee. I knew there would be someone in this forum with your experience who would help me!

Yes, Lily_love, I had the same thought. We only have about three more weeks of reliably frost-free weather here in CT. I hope to know for sure by then whether or not to rescue this plant from the cold.