Brugmansia sanguinea

Brugmansia sanguinea, the red angel's trumpet, is a species of South American flowering shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Brugmansia in tribe Datureae of subfamily Solanoideae of the nightshade family Solanaceae.^[2][3] It has been cultivated and used as an entheogen for shamanic purposes by the South American Natives for centuries - possibly even millennia.^[4]

Brugmansia sanguinea
Conservation status
Extinct in the Wild  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Brugmansia
Species:	B. sanguinea
Binomial name
Brugmansia sanguinea (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don
Synonyms[2]
Brugmansia bicolor Pers. Datura rubra Pépin Datura sanguinea Ruiz & Pav. Brugmansia aurea J.Harrison Brugmansia lutea Berl. Brugmansia sanguinea var. glabra Marnock Datura rosei Saff. Datura sanguinea f. coccinea Voss Elisia mutabilis Milano

Description

Brugmansia sanguinea is a small tree reaching up to 10 m (33 ft) in height. The pendent, tubular/trumpet-shaped flowers come in shades of brilliant red, yellow, orange and green.^[5]

Distribution

B. sanguinea is endemic to the Andes mountains from Colombia to northern Chile at elevations from 2,000 to 3,000 m (6,600 to 9,800 ft).^[6]

Toxicity

Main article: Brugmansia (Toxicity)

All parts of Brugmansia sanguinea are poisonous. Different parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids in varying proportions. Alkaloid content in the flowers is mainly atropine with only traces of scopolamine (hyoscine).^[7][8] The seeds of B. sanguinea contain approximately 0.17% alkaloids by mass, of which 78% are scopolomine.^[8]

Gallery

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  1853 illustration
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  Pollination by the sword-billed hummingbird
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